Thank you for watching! Here's the link to the tier list: tiermaker.com/create/fbtl-15891362 Only four more days until the RGG Summit, and rumour has it that we might be getting a pirate entry this time around… This year just keeps getting better :D
"Mortals like Kido wouldn't stand a chance fighting someone like Saejima" was too good of a description of that fight 🤣🤣 I like that fight but damn that is so true
To the fair the dynamic intro is the most effort put into that Ibuchi fight, then dude pops out that reused to hell Gun Tamashiro moveset, which is a pain to fight after 3.
It's weird because the main villain of the first installment of my Yakuza fanfiction series is like Ebina but has more screen time and has dedicated flashbacks to him alongside the other main villain who's the biological brother and sworn brother of the main character.
I also hope they bring back Ebina to round out his character and the fact that he’s Ichiban’s brother and is left alive at the end of the game makes me think he’ll definitely be back, maybe changing his course of actions after hearing Kiryu’s words
For as much as I understand the distaste towards Ebina as a character, I think he was excellent as a symbol. Infinite Wealth’s story has a strong focus on whether or not the yakuza should be given another chance at being dutiful members of society. Ebina makes the strongest case for why the yakuza shouldn’t get that chance, while simultaneously being a culmination of their worst traits. Harboring unnecessary hate, ruining lives through careless actions - these are things that Ebina both detests and embodies. But in the same way he represents the yakuza’s shortcomings, he represents the fact that they still deserve another try, shown in how Kiryu implores Ebina to go on despite his missteps. Again, he isn’t a great character, certainly not one deserving of something as legendary as an Oni irezumi. But as a symbol, I couldn’t think of a more relevant pick for Infinite Wealth’s story.
Through both times I played through Infinite Wealth, Ebina carried the endgame in an interesting way due purely to the depth of the one emotion driving his whole character: hatred. His obsession with not just killing but *torturing* all of the yakuza in a living hell, willingness to stoop to their level just to inflict as much pain as he possibly can, and all of his symbolism through his attack names and irezumi looping back to the theme of eternal torment and punishment. That hatred felt palpable every time he talked about the yakuza following him, and he makes my skin crawl in a way few other villains in this series have affected me.
Really enjoyed the video, I did not agree with all your picks but definetely saw where you were coming from with your reasoning behind most of them. One I did not agree with especially is Kuwana, as he is in my opinion of a nigh-perfect antagonist, and the best final boss. Him chasing an unattainable goal does not undermine his character at all even with his backstory considered. The whole point behind it is that it's the way he sees this cycle of killing as his way of redemption, as the best thing he can do about it, even if it does not stop the cycle. Him not being a psychopath also does not take away from him serving a proper tool to show off the game's main motive, and if anything only adds to it. As it shows that his actions are something he sees as the necessary thing to do, no matter how unwell he things about the collateral damage going with it. The game makes it clear that there is no definitive solution to bullying, so having Kuwana use a solution that is clearly flawed only propells that motive further I also think the game makes it pretty clear Yagami and Kuwana did learn a lot from eachother too, with Yagami and his final speech where he considers Kuwana's points and makes it clear that his solution isn't perfect either, while also making it ultimately clear why he considers his (by the law) way of things to be the better option. And on Kuwana's side we see that he finally revealed all of the body locations which directly hints that he dropped his crusade after accounting what Yagami said. With all that said I'm glad I could hear your takes, and your in-depth reasonings behind them, and I can totally see why You'd put Shishido to be on the top of your ranking, and he's up there in mine as well.
I know this might be too much to ask but I would also love to see you rank the secondary antagonists like Kuze, Soma, Sasaki, Someya. Cause some of them are just as if not greater than the main ones.
Yeah Aizawa is in a weird place. In terms of mechanics and presentation it's easily top 5 in the entire series, and has a legit argument for #1. And yet he's so contrived and badly out of place that HE HIMSELF literally says he doesn't know why he's there. Kurosawa was already a flagrant ass pull, and his son just puts a cherry on top. Y5 is a truly bizarre game. Only a few months left until my yearly Christmas replay lol, kill me now.
Man, Shishido was the first Yakuza boss fight to actual give me a chill after finishing it. He was old school Yakuza, treated like dirt his entire life, scrambling for any sort of success. When he finally sees his opportunity to take it, he does, but it's all for nought. He's the chairman of the Omi for that short period of time that he assumed control, but he knew that even if he beat Kiryu and the other Yakuza legends, he'll be king of the ashes. The government's crackdown on the Yakuza meant his days were numbered anyway, but he couldn't let his one opportunity slip away. The fact that he essentially takes Kiryu's role from every other game (being the man to stand for the Yakuza against an impending threat), it was difficult to really blame the guy. He was the only antagonist I actually felt bad for throughout the series (aside from Nishiki) and felt that the presentation he got as a final boss was almost like RGG studios giving him the position he deserved, even if it was fleeting. I hope we see him again one day, maybe trying to get away from the Daidoji.
Likewise! Here's hoping that we see a Mine Gaiden in the future to expand on said execution (or even a Mine Saga as part of a Kiwami 3 at this point 😅)
I really like like idea of Kiryu's true final adversary being someone that embodies the sins of his life as a Yakuza, but all of the writing that lead to the final fight was completely lost on me.
It's been fascinating to watch Ryuji go from being the most beloved final boss in the series, only a few years ago, to one of the biggest topics of debate among fans. Kiwami 2 was the most fun game for me to play to completion, the structure of unlocking Kiryu's full skillset naturally lends to the 100% run, and taking on Legend Ryuji at the end with everything at my disposal was one of the best experiences I've had in any videogame.
Congratulations for reaching this milestone that you deserve. Looking forward to seeing you gain more subscribers and your future uploads, especially the Yakuza 5 analysis. Hot take incoming though: I like the Munakata fight, but moreso because of how much I loved Tanimura (second favorite character in the series behind Ichiban), him turning over his badge, the dynamic intro where he still rushes in despite being outnumbered and this being the first ever mainline game in which Kiryu doesn't end the game. I mostly just spammed square triangle and circle since it gives him very short i-frames, and then gave Munakata every single heat action possible.
I'll be honest I think the main issue with Munakta boss fight is that Tanimura's section leaves him severly underleveled in comparison to the other 3 characters in yakuza 4 by the point of finale, the fight is really enjoyable if you level him up adequately
Shirakaba might not be a great character but he serves as a great meta thematical boss fight when you think of his fight as a happy ending version of nishiki vs kiryu.
Don't forget the fact that Iwami can be viewed as a dark mirror to Kiryu and his rise to prominence in a whole ton of aspects giving him that little extra narrative punch when you think about it a little more
Hoping for an Amon fight tier list for the 10k subs special 🙏 Also congrats for the 9k (even though I’m 2 weeks late lol), I’ve been watching your content and it’s top quality
I came here expecting Munakata and Tenkai in f tier Ebina in D Mine,Nishiki,Kuroiwa,Shishido and Ryo in S tier and that's exactly what I got lol I think I'm familiar with your opinions a little too much
i wanted to like ebina. conceptually interesting having an antagonist that has only seen the suffering side of the fantastic events of the series, implicating the player and kiryu both. but by the time you get to the final confrontation monologue he just comes across like an average mid-boss with a chip on his shoulder
Personally, I think that Aizawa in the finale is a genuinely compelling character with a half baked worldview that mirrors his father’s, but the pacing messes it up and initially makes it more jarring than anything else
I’d go as far to say this is an issue that plagues nearly all of the cast of yakuza 5. Brilliant ideas and genius themes, but due to the bad pacing, messy structure, and weird story decisions, said ideas get shot down before they had the chance to fly.
I know you've said it'd be cool to see a Mine Gaiden at some point, and I agree. But a setting i'd love to see first with a ton of connective tissue (and a lot of potential fan-favourite characters to play as) would be a game set in 1987. Making a game close to the setting of their most popular entry Yakuza 0 just makes sense to me, Shintaro Kazama wouldnt be arrested yet and might be an interesting protagonist. You'd have Dojima as his superior, the lieutenants to keep in check, Kiryu and Nishiki as year1 babies in the clan since they joined in 86 (and they canonically cant do anything to make a name for themselves yet, so clearly at a stage where they still have to be protected). Kashiwagi as a direct subordinate etc, in the era where Kazama led the clan to supreme prominence in the Tojo. There are a couple more events that could be great backdrops to a game set in 87. This would be just 2 years after the infamous Ueno Seiwa raid, Saejima recently put in prison, Majima in the hole, the fallout of that event. This would also be 7 years after the Dojima family raided the Jingweon HQ, with Shimano having only recently left the Dojima family to form his own in 85. And for added spice, Andre Richardson was allegedly responsible for the crash of 1987, Joji Kazama emigrated to the US at the end of the 70s and would have been a CIA agent during this era, but we know Shintaro at least stayed in touch in some capacity because... *beautiful eyes...*. I'll be honest, I just want more Andre Richardson, he was a giant meme in 3 but I much prefer that to the bootleg version of himself he was in Infinite Wealth with a very different voice actor, and i think it's often glossed over just how long he was active at the head of Black Monday.
I agree on Aizawa. The fight and the music was so overhyped by the community even after release of zero that it made it one of the most disappointing final bosses in the series for me.
Reiji for me goes in S. He's the representation of the opposite of Kurohyou 1's theme of having a philosophy which is like what Tatsuya was back then. It became clear when their first victims where finished off with a roundhouse kick to the head.
as a certified ebina meat rider rgg please give me some more screentime I beg of you I want to see more of this illogical insane man especially with ichiban
Gokudoni produces too much peak. I watched some of this video but I am getting close to the end and the passion for the franchise persists, to I guess, his own resolve 😅😅 haha keep it up. I just didnt have enough time originally to watch this all. It is actually September weekend here in the Uk so theres plenty of time now to watch this peak.
Kurohyou 2 boss fight made so hype cause everything i saw tetsuya went through his two game and him finally ending this madness he walked into to live with his fist with a purpose was hype as the boss heat aura become shape of fox tailes to represent his strength as they were born to be wild. Man i love the Kurohyou game and they are A Tier yakuza game for me.
When it comes to Yakuza, if the boss has a gun moveset, chances are it’s not gonna be as good as someone with any other weapon or without (except Hanpeita)
Congratulations on 9k my dude much deserved Here an idea now you done all final bosses hoow you do 1st boss of each game might be interesting Also can we talk about chitose run up to Bryce like about diliver a flying kick to face 😂 in 1:13:00
Appreciate that talk about Kuwana as I feel a lot of people overlook the issue with his ideology because while his motivations are sound they're extremely flawed, and that's OK because that's why Yagami exists. That's what a FOIL is people.
Nice list, I agree with Shishido, he’s my favorite boss after Mine. I recently replayed Y4 and god, the antagonists in that game are terrible, Arai is the one that bothers me the most, the guy is an empty shell in personality, the guy has like 4 plot twists: Oh he shot someone, it turns out he was working for this guy, no, he betrays the first guy and he was actually working for this other one, but NO, he didn’t actually work for this guy, he was actually working for this OTHER guy, but NO, he betrays him TOO, oh yeah, and he’s a cop apparently, which is a twist that adds nothing. And he’s even a hypocrite, he talks shit on Daigo for a lot of "inmoral" things, what right does he have? Didn’t he betray like 100 people to get there? Lol. And his motivations are really vague, “getting to the top” is really vague dude.
Characters in Ishin that bear resemblance to mainline characters were written to be seen as extentions of said characters (at least according to older interviews with some of the devs). With that in mind, the last boss of Ishin was a brand new face so as not to spoil new players on who the final obstacle would be. Plus, that offered the writers the benefit of having a clean slate for a character that wouldn't have to follow established writing from a mainline counterpart. Putting Shibusawa into that role not only ruins the surprise factor, seeing as he's technically the final boss of the most popular game in the series (thus being a giveaway for Ishin's final twist), but his dynamic with Kiryu also doesn't translate into what Ryoma and Takechi are supposed to be in Ishin, leading to a lack of believability with regards to the newfound brotherly dynamic the two have to share. The cast in OG Ishin was fairly consistent in how they utilised the mainline games as a basis for its characterization, which is why Shibusawa's inclusion here sticks out so much in a negative way.
In terms of overall power level of ALL characters, Kiryu and Saejima. I can argue Ryuji as a solid third? Majima is tricky since he is speed based (again, im mentioning all). But hands down Kiryu and Saejima are peak. I think the bear and tiger are below them too
Personally, I think Ebina was a pretty damn good final boss. Not S tier, but I thought his motivations make sense, his fight was cool, and his theme was great. Shishido remains undefeated though. Definitely the best boss in the series. Great video though!
Infinite Wealth is so funny to me because its the ONE TIME in the entire series where "cowardly gun villain" was more fun/memorable than the "sympathetic cool shirtless villain" lmao. Ebina is like if you asked an AI to make the next Nishiki/Ryuji/Mine
You know, I kinda like Aizawa's reasoning and his overall portrayal. In the early chapters we see him testing both Kiryu and himself, his own delusion and infatuation with Kiryu as a concept. Having witnessed and tested Kiryu himself, he truly believes what he's doing, as in, holding him accountable, is just in his own way. He actively refuses to be Kurosawa's pawn who gets everything on a silver platter, like he believes Daigo did, and he chooses to work for his position. He has an admiration mixed with distain for Kiryu, because he saw everything Kiryu was capable of with his two own eyes, so he feels all the more betrayed that Kiryu would abandon the Tojo. i think it ultimately makes sense for his portrayal in the game, because even in his most evil moments he believes what he's doing is just, because by defeating Kiryu he would become the strongest Tojo Chairman and he would use his power to aid the clan as the Chairman.
He only appeared in a cutscene after the fight with Hanpeita, unfortunately. Though, I'd imagine fighting Yodo would've been like what we saw in Kenzan's finale, so maybe it's for the best that he wasn't a boss 😅
1:17:20 You see here's the problem. That sounds awesome, so RGG will never do it. I have a feeling RGG will never actually let us play as villains are EX-Villains, because RGG hates reoccurring characters Also, anyone who says Masato Arakawa wasn't the most cathartic boss fight in that game then they are lying
Shishido is literally quite the opposite of being "the person who will always look out for his own interests" because he's not the mastermind how you trying to describe him, he's a mindless slave of Nishitani III, following orders even after Nishitani dies. And his fate ending up in Daidoji is quite fitting for him, he's not freed, just under new management.
I do think it was pretty weird that they did it that way but just why since Shishido doesn’t need him around. Though I would say it was pretty obvious he was the main antagonist based on trailers and promotional stuff, to be fair you look at those things and you can pretty much guess who the antagonist is going to be. I knew Ebina was going to be that right away.
Ebina is a case where I think the idea behind him is way cooler than he himself ended up being. His whole image is supposed to be "all the shitty consequences of the yakuza's (and specifically Kiryu's) actions personified". The problem is his weak setup, because his scenes don't really flesh him out in any way, so up until the final chapter he has literally nothing to go off of, no insight into his character or motivations. So right up until then you just get kind of a nothing character who has nothing specific going for him, and then he ends up in an Aizawa-esque situation a-la "fuck you, here's a character with dubious motivations giving you THE GOD BOSS FIGHT just for the hell of it". He's like an allegory of Infinite Wealth's story as a whole, it tried to fit so many plot points into itself between Ichiban and Kiryu's sections that it didn't have space to adequately resolve any of them (i.e. Ichiban's mom, the Daidoji stuff, Kiryu's kinda-sorta-redemption arc in general). I don't foresee him being brought back, RGG has a known history of giving cool characters the one-and-done treatment (except the funny ruff man of all people). But if I had to pick one cool villain to bring back, it would be either Ebina or Ryuji, specifically because of all the characterization they missed out on. Then again, maybe this is all wet fantasies and Ebina's just a plot device in human flesh to resolve Kiryu's character arc without really intending to be anything else. Also the track is fire hotter than the fucking sun, so A tier minimum just for that.
Glad to see I’m not only one who feel a bit disappointed with Ebina. Like, Look, I like him. I like his theme, his tattoos and his skills. But storywise, It could’ve done better than this. I feel like they want to make us feel bad for him but I just can’t. Yes, He was victrim of Yakuza wars but so what? I still don’t get it why are we supposed to feel bad for him through. Not to mentioned that final QTE look really weak af. To me, Worst one gotta be Munakata. Who in the damn hell thought Jingu-boss designed was a good idea to begin with and decided to make it worse but gave us MORE commandos. Best one? Kuwana Jin/Kitakata Yu. He has everything I want. Epic theme? Checked. Played by good actor? Checked(Yamamoto Kojima). Having really challenging but not bs moveset? Checked. Having deep background? Checked. Involved with story more than showing up like 2 chapters? Checked. He made other final bosses look like a joke imo.
Completly agree with your take on kuwana Not mention how much he is so unique in terms of having a grey ending compared to the rest of series villains , he is the only one who didnt die or being captured
Lol I don't get how you give Iwami an A tier, but give Aizawa a B tier. The final boss fight of 6 was average at best. There's nothing interesting about Iwami. He's just another scrub thinking he's the toughest yakuza alive, which Kiryu disproves. OST is also not that great. Aizawa, despite the incoherent nature of the character, gave all he had. By far the most entertaining fight out of all if we're purely going on the fight alone. Regarding his backstory, during the game, nobody backs him up, whereas baby Iwami has the whole Hiroshima clan behind him. It does truly feel that Kiryu is Aizawa's final boss. Speech is amazing. Music is amazing. Interlude with Dreamline's song debute is amazing. Ending is also one of the most realistic we had gotten so far and most depressing, which I like very much. I loved that Aizawa healed so much just because I got to spend more time kicking his ass and exercising my fighting. To me, the amount of QTEs was also perfect, as was the length of Yakuza 5. I guess it's just a matter of experience and perspective, but under no circumstance does Iwami, the character with the most mid personality in Yakuza, deserve A tier on my list. A truly deserving A tier boss from Y6 is Someya in his last fight.
I disagree with your thoughts on the build up to Majima’s fight In 5. Majima most likely let himself get caught because if he fought back they would kill Haruka.
i don't exactly see Shishido's betrayal as well done, but this stems from how i view his final fight in story context, visual context and its music. what prefaces his encounter is announcement of omi dissolution. we're fighting against a lot of omi and, to me, Shishido is the 'final omi obstacle' in many ways. Shishido doesn't know any other way of life. through his interactions, especially during the boys' night out, he shows to be much more of a direct contact when it comes to yakuza matters within the clan, a middleman between Tsuruno and the manpower, potentially being an inspiration to their underlings and a symbol of what good yakuza life looks like in their eyes. he also has that omi fearlessness and hard-headedness we're used to from Ryuji. in general i see him more as a de-facto commander who thinks he's doing the right thing in his warped way to support the "final omi obstacle" there's the way his cutscene battle sequences are done. in the very first hit he actually wounds Kiryu, figure synonymous with the rival clan who often caused omi trouble and stood in its way. in the transition to second phase, he's the one that "cuts the lights out" in omi by chopping out the chandelier from the ceiling. between numerous phases he's shown to give it his all to stop Kiryu, either by disarming him when he obtains a katana or struggling for dear life despite being unable to properly use some of the limbs. i think the coolest little thing is that he's quite literally the last one exiting the Omi HQ, as he pushes his opponent through the glass separating yakuza world from real world. the music is where i think all of this is most evident. "Hatred" is the track right before the fight starts, for that cutscene, and it screams Shishido barely being able to hold his anger out due to Kiryu effectively ending the life he knew without his consent, but also the feeling of devastation and even a tinge of sadness, as he's looking at the center of his worldview, Omi chairman room, for the last time. "Deadly Struggle" is the theme for battle proper and the previous 'hatred' is in full display, having practically turned into a brutal rage, unleashing everything in his might to stop the life he knows from ending with one small melody bit from the previous track slightly recolored from devastation and sadness into proper grief and early signs of acceptance - the realization that he lost the battle, Watase is outside, protected by the best of the best, legendary members of Yakuza on a calibre comparable to Kiryu's. "Fleeting Dream" is one of my favorite tracks in the entire franchise. I disagree with it being a Shishido's 2nd boss track, it more feels like a theme of both fighters' current state. The sun that sets in the background is just as much for Shishido as it is for Kiryu - the former facing the prospect that it's all over and all that he can do is make sure he gave it all to fight for the only life he's familiar with, the latter reminiscing over the lifestyle he's ending, one that he used to dream of way back in his 20s with his sworn brother. These things are very heavy for both of the men and the part of the track that really emphasizes this is the guitar section around the middle mark, going through soaring and falling in pitch in different ways across two otherwise identical sections - first one feels a lot more out of control, chaotic, desperate and unable to find its place, sealed off with strings that practically scream "Please, don't end it!", however very notably it doesn't feel regretful. The second one meanwhile is much more balanced, but also nostalgic, retrospective and with a feeling of really wishing some mistakes weren't made, wanting to finally put an end to this and feel some relief from the burden. Shishido isn't an egotistical person who wants to feel power like Aizawa. He already felt certain kind of power and i think he knows anything more isn't exactly for him. He's exactly what he looks like - a wounded warrior who knew no other option than just violence, who in the face of that path ending simply refuses to go down no matter what he's facing. The last Omi standing.
Because the writers wrote their plot into a corner in IW where they can’t connect to the ‘Ichiban find his mom’ plot and ‘Kiryu do his redemption’ plot together naturally, so they can only use Ebina as a plot device. However the boss fight is worse than Tendo’s, this is no excuse. One shot a character is such a neat JRPG reference.
@@Norrabal I'll be honest, tendo is not a good fight. He has ONE dangerous move, every other one, except maybe devil's left wing, is worthless and does no damage. He has way too much health on top of resisting physical damages (Which is one of the best aspects of IW: Enemies no longer resisting every type of physical damage) and he's only weak to pure lightning, of which there's almost nothing in the game. His theme is awesome, as is his intro and character, but the fight itself is not good. One dangerous move and one trillion hp just leads to a slog of a fight.
I'm watching the video and yeah, probably my fault, and I appreciate the timestamps to avoid spoilers, but you keep mentioning the guy from Kenzan in later games. 😂
My apologies! He's just the best example of a lackluster final boss, so he wound up being an easy point of comparison in the script later on. I'll be more thoughtful about this in the future!
You started the tier list great, but then you put iwami( on of the worst boss fights in the framchise) in a tier above aizawa (one of the best boss fights of thw franchise, if you ignore the bad writing of the game). Iwami is a shit final boss by design. It was intended by the plot and design of the game to be a bad fight. Ranking it high goes against what the game established.
And after that you give an A tier to masato arakawa, a fake final boss, considering that tendo was the actual final boss, and the "fight" against arakawa only exists because of the plot, but practically has no gameplay purpose. If they had put some limited brawling gameplay to ichiban, and used that in this fight, it would be good. The way that fight was implemented, it was just lame from a gameplay perspective.
Yeah, in the very same tier that Ryuji, Majima, Shibusawa, Lao Gui and Takechi... Nope. I'd put Aizawa on A, Iwami on C... And Arakawa gets to stay in A if we consider "Tendo + Arakawa" as a bundle for the final boss spot, which is more fair imo. The rest I'm more or less ok with.
I'm sick and tired of seeing ts iwami is literally designed to make you feel that way and that he's a bitch can y'all literally get the point of a decently designed villain
I'm sorry but Aizawa clears Shishido. 1) Aizawa only needs one track to impress while Shishido relies on the usual guitar-heavy epic music and acoustic and transition between the two is a bit jarring. 2) Shishido is a face scan which is lazy and uninspired and feels more like an actor's own little power fantasy meanwhile Aizawa is 100% original powerpilled dreamcel so he can return unlike Shishido who's now under Daidoji and Yokoyama will forget about them. 3) Fuck Omi. 4) Shishido is done, he'll never come back and there's no conflict to give him. He's wasted. Meanwhile, with his relationship with Kurosawa, you can write Aizawa as Ichiban's Ryuji or Shadow. Ichi carries the future of yakuza and fullfills Arakawa's will by helping them to get new life while Aizawa can rebuild what he and other yakuza are used to across the entire country, like Kurosawa wanted to. 5) 5 combat >>> Gaiden combat
While I agree that Aizawa is not as bad character as many think, the thought that he could comeback is hilariously awful. There is absolutely ZERO reason for him to comeback since Kiryu is done as protagonist, he has no connection to Ichiban to be able to fight him. Yokoyama understands that he is not popular character as well, and if he wanted to bring him back he would did that earlier. Even Shishido has more chance to be brought back, making a Gaiden game out of him, to show his life inside Daidoji. With latest RGG games we see that likeness characters being brought back for the second time is completely fine
@@堂島の龍4649Arai hasn't come back, Kido hasn't come back, Baba hasn't come back, Katsuya hasn't come back, Nagumo hasn't come back, Yuta hasn't come back, Eri hasn't come back and there probably are other face scans that hasn't or won't come back. Shishido and Nishitani III are on the same boat. And about connections. If Yokoyama made Ebina Kiryu's final boss, he can make Ichi vs Aizawa a thing. If I came up with a way to connect these two, Yokoyama can do it as well. This series is a shitshow after Gaiden and Infinite Wealth so even this won't be as bad.
@@solidusgadget Nice, I will be waiting Mikio vs Nanba in the next game because Nanba stole a bento from Mikio. Also would be great to see Hana vs Saeko
It's a bit weird how in my Yakuza/Like A Dragon fanfiction series, the actual encounters and main fights actually have a logical reason to happen in the first place
@@NorrabalI'm mainly referring to some of the fights in the fifth game and also I'm currently working on a fanfiction series featuring a OC I created set in the past of the franchise. It takes place from 1987 to 1999 and there's going to be a total of seven installments.
![Ranking the Nioh Bosses from Easiest to Hardest [#35-16]](/img/n.gif)
Thank you for watching! Here's the link to the tier list: tiermaker.com/create/fbtl-15891362
Only four more days until the RGG Summit, and rumour has it that we might be getting a pirate entry this time around… This year just keeps getting better :D
At least RGG is going to reuse the majima pirate outfit that you unlock after finishing the game 😂
"Mortals like Kido wouldn't stand a chance fighting someone like Saejima" was too good of a description of that fight 🤣🤣 I like that fight but damn that is so true
Hello devilleon
To be fair that was a Saejima that Majima called "too damn weak"
I think Kido and Baba are on my list as the two "weakest" power level wise in terms of Yakuza final bosses.
To the fair the dynamic intro is the most effort put into that Ibuchi fight, then dude pops out that reused to hell Gun Tamashiro moveset, which is a pain to fight after 3.
As much as I didn't like ebina as a final boss. The End of Denial goes so hard... Will we get a final boss ost tierlist sometime?
Could be fun! I'll keep it in mind for future milestone celebrations
It's weird because the main villain of the first installment of my Yakuza fanfiction series is like Ebina but has more screen time and has dedicated flashbacks to him alongside the other main villain who's the biological brother and sworn brother of the main character.
you yakuza-tubers know just when i'm about to eat lunch LETS GOOOOO
I also hope they bring back Ebina to round out his character and the fact that he’s Ichiban’s brother and is left alive at the end of the game makes me think he’ll definitely be back, maybe changing his course of actions after hearing Kiryu’s words
HAMAZAKI 2 YIPPIE
man Shishido, I gotta say I have never been so happy to be backstabbed, as Shishido was already showing qualites I that liked to see in a final boss.
For as much as I understand the distaste towards Ebina as a character, I think he was excellent as a symbol. Infinite Wealth’s story has a strong focus on whether or not the yakuza should be given another chance at being dutiful members of society. Ebina makes the strongest case for why the yakuza shouldn’t get that chance, while simultaneously being a culmination of their worst traits. Harboring unnecessary hate, ruining lives through careless actions - these are things that Ebina both detests and embodies. But in the same way he represents the yakuza’s shortcomings, he represents the fact that they still deserve another try, shown in how Kiryu implores Ebina to go on despite his missteps.
Again, he isn’t a great character, certainly not one deserving of something as legendary as an Oni irezumi. But as a symbol, I couldn’t think of a more relevant pick for Infinite Wealth’s story.
Through both times I played through Infinite Wealth, Ebina carried the endgame in an interesting way due purely to the depth of the one emotion driving his whole character: hatred. His obsession with not just killing but *torturing* all of the yakuza in a living hell, willingness to stoop to their level just to inflict as much pain as he possibly can, and all of his symbolism through his attack names and irezumi looping back to the theme of eternal torment and punishment. That hatred felt palpable every time he talked about the yakuza following him, and he makes my skin crawl in a way few other villains in this series have affected me.
Really enjoyed the video, I did not agree with all your picks but definetely saw where you were coming from with your reasoning behind most of them.
One I did not agree with especially is Kuwana, as he is in my opinion of a nigh-perfect antagonist, and the best final boss. Him chasing an unattainable goal does not undermine his character at all even with his backstory considered. The whole point behind it is that it's the way he sees this cycle of killing as his way of redemption, as the best thing he can do about it, even if it does not stop the cycle.
Him not being a psychopath also does not take away from him serving a proper tool to show off the game's main motive, and if anything only adds to it. As it shows that his actions are something he sees as the necessary thing to do, no matter how unwell he things about the collateral damage going with it. The game makes it clear that there is no definitive solution to bullying, so having Kuwana use a solution that is clearly flawed only propells that motive further
I also think the game makes it pretty clear Yagami and Kuwana did learn a lot from eachother too, with Yagami and his final speech where he considers Kuwana's points and makes it clear that his solution isn't perfect either, while also making it ultimately clear why he considers his (by the law) way of things to be the better option. And on Kuwana's side we see that he finally revealed all of the body locations which directly hints that he dropped his crusade after accounting what Yagami said.
With all that said I'm glad I could hear your takes, and your in-depth reasonings behind them, and I can totally see why You'd put Shishido to be on the top of your ranking, and he's up there in mine as well.
56:24 it will have me WHAT?!
I love the way you analyzed Kuwana. I've never seen anyone else approach him from that perspective
Yoshitaka Mine is also the first character to be able to switch fighting styles in any capacity
I know this might be too much to ask but I would also love to see you rank the secondary antagonists like Kuze, Soma, Sasaki, Someya.
Cause some of them are just as if not greater than the main ones.
Same although this is the fairest final boss list. And also rank Awano and Tendo
Yeah Aizawa is in a weird place. In terms of mechanics and presentation it's easily top 5 in the entire series, and has a legit argument for #1. And yet he's so contrived and badly out of place that HE HIMSELF literally says he doesn't know why he's there. Kurosawa was already a flagrant ass pull, and his son just puts a cherry on top. Y5 is a truly bizarre game. Only a few months left until my yearly Christmas replay lol, kill me now.
Man, Shishido was the first Yakuza boss fight to actual give me a chill after finishing it. He was old school Yakuza, treated like dirt his entire life, scrambling for any sort of success. When he finally sees his opportunity to take it, he does, but it's all for nought. He's the chairman of the Omi for that short period of time that he assumed control, but he knew that even if he beat Kiryu and the other Yakuza legends, he'll be king of the ashes. The government's crackdown on the Yakuza meant his days were numbered anyway, but he couldn't let his one opportunity slip away. The fact that he essentially takes Kiryu's role from every other game (being the man to stand for the Yakuza against an impending threat), it was difficult to really blame the guy. He was the only antagonist I actually felt bad for throughout the series (aside from Nishiki) and felt that the presentation he got as a final boss was almost like RGG studios giving him the position he deserved, even if it was fleeting. I hope we see him again one day, maybe trying to get away from the Daidoji.
The more I see of Mine the more I appraciate the incredible excution of his character
Likewise! Here's hoping that we see a Mine Gaiden in the future to expand on said execution (or even a Mine Saga as part of a Kiwami 3 at this point 😅)
Can't say I agree with everything, but still I really enjoyed the video and congrats on reaching 9K dude.
I really like like idea of Kiryu's true final adversary being someone that embodies the sins of his life as a Yakuza, but all of the writing that lead to the final fight was completely lost on me.
It's been fascinating to watch Ryuji go from being the most beloved final boss in the series, only a few years ago, to one of the biggest topics of debate among fans. Kiwami 2 was the most fun game for me to play to completion, the structure of unlocking Kiryu's full skillset naturally lends to the 100% run, and taking on Legend Ryuji at the end with everything at my disposal was one of the best experiences I've had in any videogame.
I'll give one thing to the Munakata's fight, he probably has one of the hypest dynamic intro.
I agree with you on Ryuji. Especially when in Kiwami 2, if you fail to beat him in the final QTE, you lose automatically. Which makes no sense.
I disagree with Ebina's placement since he's one of my favorite final bosses in the franchise but overall a solid tier list
Congratulations for reaching this milestone that you deserve. Looking forward to seeing you gain more subscribers and your future uploads, especially the Yakuza 5 analysis.
Hot take incoming though: I like the Munakata fight, but moreso because of how much I loved Tanimura (second favorite character in the series behind Ichiban), him turning over his badge, the dynamic intro where he still rushes in despite being outnumbered and this being the first ever mainline game in which Kiryu doesn't end the game. I mostly just spammed square triangle and circle since it gives him very short i-frames, and then gave Munakata every single heat action possible.
I'll be honest I think the main issue with Munakta boss fight is that Tanimura's section leaves him severly underleveled in comparison to the other 3 characters in yakuza 4 by the point of finale, the fight is really enjoyable if you level him up adequately
@@arbikverq9058 I'm still annoyed on how his third chapter could've been more than literally just going to the police headquarters.
My favorite Yakuza final boss was the one that had the badass tattoo.
banger has come early
Shirakaba might not be a great character but he serves as a great meta thematical boss fight when you think of his fight as a happy ending version of nishiki vs kiryu.
Don't forget the fact that Iwami can be viewed as a dark mirror to Kiryu and his rise to prominence in a whole ton of aspects giving him that little extra narrative punch when you think about it a little more
Hoping for an Amon fight tier list for the 10k subs special 🙏
Also congrats for the 9k (even though I’m 2 weeks late lol), I’ve been watching your content and it’s top quality
I came here expecting Munakata and Tenkai in f tier
Ebina in D
Mine,Nishiki,Kuroiwa,Shishido and Ryo in S tier and that's exactly what I got lol
I think I'm familiar with your opinions a little too much
I enjoyed the Iwami fight so much, especially the leadup to it.
Why didn't they captured shishido alongside nishitani, I'm still thinking about this everyday
ranking every tier list
22:37 You could even say that he's a muppet.
i wanted to like ebina. conceptually interesting having an antagonist that has only seen the suffering side of the fantastic events of the series, implicating the player and kiryu both. but by the time you get to the final confrontation monologue he just comes across like an average mid-boss with a chip on his shoulder
I am so glad they made nishki the final boss and not jingu
I agree with the Iwami placement, I found Yakuza 6 pulled off a nuance in it's ending very well compared to previous games.
Shishido is actually so goated
Personally, I think that Aizawa in the finale is a genuinely compelling character with a half baked worldview that mirrors his father’s, but the pacing messes it up and initially makes it more jarring than anything else
I’d go as far to say this is an issue that plagues nearly all of the cast of yakuza 5.
Brilliant ideas and genius themes, but due to the bad pacing, messy structure, and weird story decisions, said ideas get shot down before they had the chance to fly.
Thinking about Ishin Kiwami still causes me physical pain, we got robbed so hard
I know you've said it'd be cool to see a Mine Gaiden at some point, and I agree. But a setting i'd love to see first with a ton of connective tissue (and a lot of potential fan-favourite characters to play as) would be a game set in 1987. Making a game close to the setting of their most popular entry Yakuza 0 just makes sense to me, Shintaro Kazama wouldnt be arrested yet and might be an interesting protagonist. You'd have Dojima as his superior, the lieutenants to keep in check, Kiryu and Nishiki as year1 babies in the clan since they joined in 86 (and they canonically cant do anything to make a name for themselves yet, so clearly at a stage where they still have to be protected). Kashiwagi as a direct subordinate etc, in the era where Kazama led the clan to supreme prominence in the Tojo.
There are a couple more events that could be great backdrops to a game set in 87. This would be just 2 years after the infamous Ueno Seiwa raid, Saejima recently put in prison, Majima in the hole, the fallout of that event. This would also be 7 years after the Dojima family raided the Jingweon HQ, with Shimano having only recently left the Dojima family to form his own in 85. And for added spice, Andre Richardson was allegedly responsible for the crash of 1987, Joji Kazama emigrated to the US at the end of the 70s and would have been a CIA agent during this era, but we know Shintaro at least stayed in touch in some capacity because... *beautiful eyes...*. I'll be honest, I just want more Andre Richardson, he was a giant meme in 3 but I much prefer that to the bootleg version of himself he was in Infinite Wealth with a very different voice actor, and i think it's often glossed over just how long he was active at the head of Black Monday.
I agree on Aizawa. The fight and the music was so overhyped by the community even after release of zero that it made it one of the most disappointing final bosses in the series for me.
I personally liked Ebina on the basis that he HATES what Kiryu used to stand for and rightfully so.
Reiji for me goes in S. He's the representation of the opposite of Kurohyou 1's theme of having a philosophy which is like what Tatsuya was back then. It became clear when their first victims where finished off with a roundhouse kick to the head.
as a certified ebina meat rider rgg please give me some more screentime I beg of you I want to see more of this illogical insane man especially with ichiban
Fellow ebina enjoyer 😂
Gokudoni produces too much peak. I watched some of this video but I am getting close to the end and the passion for the franchise persists, to I guess, his own resolve 😅😅 haha keep it up. I just didnt have enough time originally to watch this all. It is actually September weekend here in the Uk so theres plenty of time now to watch this peak.
Thank you for such kind words! Cheers
@@gokudoniNo worries! If anyone calls that comment glazing, they are not a true kyodai and cant match the Dragon of Dojima!! 😂😂
Kurohyou 2 boss fight made so hype cause everything i saw tetsuya went through his two game and him finally ending this madness he walked into to live with his fist with a purpose was hype as the boss heat aura become shape of fox tailes to represent his strength as they were born to be wild. Man i love the Kurohyou game and they are A Tier yakuza game for me.
Something that i just realized with End of Rematch is that if you listen to it close enough, it sounds like a remix of Speed Star
When it comes to Yakuza, if the boss has a gun moveset, chances are it’s not gonna be as good as someone with any other weapon or without (except Hanpeita)
Congratulations kyodai!
Well deserved!
Appreciate the support
should i just emulate ishin. i have heard NOTHING good about the remake even from this boss tier list
Congratulations on 9k my dude much deserved
Here an idea now you done all final bosses hoow you do 1st boss of each game might be interesting
Also can we talk about chitose run up to Bryce like about diliver a flying kick to face 😂 in 1:13:00
Love that idea! Also, thank you for pointing out the Chitose sprint 😂
Ngl Tenkai's theme is the only good thing about that fight. I liked it.
Pretty respectable tier list. Congrats on 9k, hope to see you reach 10k soon. Been a fan since you dropped the Ryo video.
Appreciate that talk about Kuwana as I feel a lot of people overlook the issue with his ideology because while his motivations are sound they're extremely flawed, and that's OK because that's why Yagami exists. That's what a FOIL is people.
1 HOUR GOKUDONI VIDEO? I'M SEATED!
Nice list, I agree with Shishido, he’s my favorite boss after Mine. I recently replayed Y4 and god, the antagonists in that game are terrible, Arai is the one that bothers me the most, the guy is an empty shell in personality, the guy has like 4 plot twists: Oh he shot someone, it turns out he was working for this guy, no, he betrays the first guy and he was actually working for this other one, but NO, he didn’t actually work for this guy, he was actually working for this OTHER guy, but NO, he betrays him TOO, oh yeah, and he’s a cop apparently, which is a twist that adds nothing. And he’s even a hypocrite, he talks shit on Daigo for a lot of "inmoral" things, what right does he have? Didn’t he betray like 100 people to get there? Lol. And his motivations are really vague, “getting to the top” is really vague dude.
Yume >:)
Sorry, but how did changing the VA foil it the believability? I'm just curious.
Characters in Ishin that bear resemblance to mainline characters were written to be seen as extentions of said characters (at least according to older interviews with some of the devs). With that in mind, the last boss of Ishin was a brand new face so as not to spoil new players on who the final obstacle would be. Plus, that offered the writers the benefit of having a clean slate for a character that wouldn't have to follow established writing from a mainline counterpart.
Putting Shibusawa into that role not only ruins the surprise factor, seeing as he's technically the final boss of the most popular game in the series (thus being a giveaway for Ishin's final twist), but his dynamic with Kiryu also doesn't translate into what Ryoma and Takechi are supposed to be in Ishin, leading to a lack of believability with regards to the newfound brotherly dynamic the two have to share. The cast in OG Ishin was fairly consistent in how they utilised the mainline games as a basis for its characterization, which is why Shibusawa's inclusion here sticks out so much in a negative way.
Here's to 10k 🍾
57:08 EEEEEYAGAMIIIII
In terms of overall power level of ALL characters, Kiryu and Saejima. I can argue Ryuji as a solid third? Majima is tricky since he is speed based (again, im mentioning all). But hands down Kiryu and Saejima are peak. I think the bear and tiger are below them too
Personally, I think Ebina was a pretty damn good final boss. Not S tier, but I thought his motivations make sense, his fight was cool, and his theme was great. Shishido remains undefeated though. Definitely the best boss in the series. Great video though!
Based
Infinite Wealth is so funny to me because its the ONE TIME in the entire series where "cowardly gun villain" was more fun/memorable than the "sympathetic cool shirtless villain" lmao. Ebina is like if you asked an AI to make the next Nishiki/Ryuji/Mine
You know, I kinda like Aizawa's reasoning and his overall portrayal. In the early chapters we see him testing both Kiryu and himself, his own delusion and infatuation with Kiryu as a concept. Having witnessed and tested Kiryu himself, he truly believes what he's doing, as in, holding him accountable, is just in his own way. He actively refuses to be Kurosawa's pawn who gets everything on a silver platter, like he believes Daigo did, and he chooses to work for his position. He has an admiration mixed with distain for Kiryu, because he saw everything Kiryu was capable of with his two own eyes, so he feels all the more betrayed that Kiryu would abandon the Tojo.
i think it ultimately makes sense for his portrayal in the game, because even in his most evil moments he believes what he's doing is just, because by defeating Kiryu he would become the strongest Tojo Chairman and he would use his power to aid the clan as the Chairman.
1:00:24 And I agree with them
The underlining of Kuwana's character was, on top of incorrect in places, forced and obvious of clear bias.
I may be wrong, but wasn't the final boss of Isshin actually Yamauchi Yodo?
He only appeared in a cutscene after the fight with Hanpeita, unfortunately. Though, I'd imagine fighting Yodo would've been like what we saw in Kenzan's finale, so maybe it's for the best that he wasn't a boss 😅
@@gokudoni Oh yes, there is no actual fight, my bad.
1:17:20
You see here's the problem.
That sounds awesome, so RGG will never do it.
I have a feeling RGG will never actually let us play as villains are EX-Villains, because RGG hates reoccurring characters
Also, anyone who says Masato Arakawa wasn't the most cathartic boss fight in that game then they are lying
Shishido is literally quite the opposite of being "the person who will always look out for his own interests" because he's not the mastermind how you trying to describe him, he's a mindless slave of Nishitani III, following orders even after Nishitani dies. And his fate ending up in Daidoji is quite fitting for him, he's not freed, just under new management.
Love that Titan reference you sneak there
I do think it was pretty weird that they did it that way but just why since Shishido doesn’t need him around. Though I would say it was pretty obvious he was the main antagonist based on trailers and promotional stuff, to be fair you look at those things and you can pretty much guess who the antagonist is going to be. I knew Ebina was going to be that right away.
Ebina is a case where I think the idea behind him is way cooler than he himself ended up being.
His whole image is supposed to be "all the shitty consequences of the yakuza's (and specifically Kiryu's) actions personified". The problem is his weak setup, because his scenes don't really flesh him out in any way, so up until the final chapter he has literally nothing to go off of, no insight into his character or motivations. So right up until then you just get kind of a nothing character who has nothing specific going for him, and then he ends up in an Aizawa-esque situation a-la "fuck you, here's a character with dubious motivations giving you THE GOD BOSS FIGHT just for the hell of it". He's like an allegory of Infinite Wealth's story as a whole, it tried to fit so many plot points into itself between Ichiban and Kiryu's sections that it didn't have space to adequately resolve any of them (i.e. Ichiban's mom, the Daidoji stuff, Kiryu's kinda-sorta-redemption arc in general).
I don't foresee him being brought back, RGG has a known history of giving cool characters the one-and-done treatment (except the funny ruff man of all people). But if I had to pick one cool villain to bring back, it would be either Ebina or Ryuji, specifically because of all the characterization they missed out on. Then again, maybe this is all wet fantasies and Ebina's just a plot device in human flesh to resolve Kiryu's character arc without really intending to be anything else.
Also the track is fire hotter than the fucking sun, so A tier minimum just for that.
Glad to see I’m not only one who feel a bit disappointed with Ebina. Like, Look, I like him. I like his theme, his tattoos and his skills. But storywise, It could’ve done better than this. I feel like they want to make us feel bad for him but I just can’t. Yes, He was victrim of Yakuza wars but so what? I still don’t get it why are we supposed to feel bad for him through. Not to mentioned that final QTE look really weak af.
To me, Worst one gotta be Munakata. Who in the damn hell thought Jingu-boss designed was a good idea to begin with and decided to make it worse but gave us MORE commandos.
Best one? Kuwana Jin/Kitakata Yu. He has everything I want. Epic theme? Checked. Played by good actor? Checked(Yamamoto Kojima). Having really challenging but not bs moveset? Checked. Having deep background? Checked. Involved with story more than showing up like 2 chapters? Checked. He made other final bosses look like a joke imo.
Completly agree with your take on kuwana
Not mention how much he is so unique in terms of having a grey ending compared to the rest of series villains , he is the only one who didnt die or being captured
@@boredodello9225 Or just straighten up disappear from story for no damn explanation…
(I’m looking at you, Bryce and Ebina…)
1:13:40 nah ebina is based what you talking about 😂
forreal he had a pretty good story ngl
Ebina in S tier as he deserves great list
especially when kiryu gets on top of ebina. absolute S tier
UA-camr try to go one video without calling Yakuza 5's story a mess challenge
Insane bias on Ebina he’s a great final villain that fits the themes of IW
"Heavy spoilers await"
>Shows the final boss of the most recent game
Intelligent!
If number 1 isn't Kuwana, you are my opp
Lol I don't get how you give Iwami an A tier, but give Aizawa a B tier. The final boss fight of 6 was average at best. There's nothing interesting about Iwami. He's just another scrub thinking he's the toughest yakuza alive, which Kiryu disproves. OST is also not that great.
Aizawa, despite the incoherent nature of the character, gave all he had. By far the most entertaining fight out of all if we're purely going on the fight alone. Regarding his backstory, during the game, nobody backs him up, whereas baby Iwami has the whole Hiroshima clan behind him. It does truly feel that Kiryu is Aizawa's final boss. Speech is amazing. Music is amazing. Interlude with Dreamline's song debute is amazing. Ending is also one of the most realistic we had gotten so far and most depressing, which I like very much. I loved that Aizawa healed so much just because I got to spend more time kicking his ass and exercising my fighting. To me, the amount of QTEs was also perfect, as was the length of Yakuza 5.
I guess it's just a matter of experience and perspective, but under no circumstance does Iwami, the character with the most mid personality in Yakuza, deserve A tier on my list. A truly deserving A tier boss from Y6 is Someya in his last fight.
Heavily disagree with the gameplay comment about Ryuji.
You can just oneshot him in K2 and he's just a pushover.
I disagree with your thoughts on the build up to Majima’s fight In 5.
Majima most likely let himself get caught because if he fought back they would kill Haruka.
i don't exactly see Shishido's betrayal as well done, but this stems from how i view his final fight in story context, visual context and its music.
what prefaces his encounter is announcement of omi dissolution. we're fighting against a lot of omi and, to me, Shishido is the 'final omi obstacle' in many ways. Shishido doesn't know any other way of life. through his interactions, especially during the boys' night out, he shows to be much more of a direct contact when it comes to yakuza matters within the clan, a middleman between Tsuruno and the manpower, potentially being an inspiration to their underlings and a symbol of what good yakuza life looks like in their eyes. he also has that omi fearlessness and hard-headedness we're used to from Ryuji. in general i see him more as a de-facto commander who thinks he's doing the right thing in his warped way
to support the "final omi obstacle" there's the way his cutscene battle sequences are done. in the very first hit he actually wounds Kiryu, figure synonymous with the rival clan who often caused omi trouble and stood in its way. in the transition to second phase, he's the one that "cuts the lights out" in omi by chopping out the chandelier from the ceiling. between numerous phases he's shown to give it his all to stop Kiryu, either by disarming him when he obtains a katana or struggling for dear life despite being unable to properly use some of the limbs. i think the coolest little thing is that he's quite literally the last one exiting the Omi HQ, as he pushes his opponent through the glass separating yakuza world from real world.
the music is where i think all of this is most evident. "Hatred" is the track right before the fight starts, for that cutscene, and it screams Shishido barely being able to hold his anger out due to Kiryu effectively ending the life he knew without his consent, but also the feeling of devastation and even a tinge of sadness, as he's looking at the center of his worldview, Omi chairman room, for the last time. "Deadly Struggle" is the theme for battle proper and the previous 'hatred' is in full display, having practically turned into a brutal rage, unleashing everything in his might to stop the life he knows from ending with one small melody bit from the previous track slightly recolored from devastation and sadness into proper grief and early signs of acceptance - the realization that he lost the battle, Watase is outside, protected by the best of the best, legendary members of Yakuza on a calibre comparable to Kiryu's.
"Fleeting Dream" is one of my favorite tracks in the entire franchise. I disagree with it being a Shishido's 2nd boss track, it more feels like a theme of both fighters' current state. The sun that sets in the background is just as much for Shishido as it is for Kiryu - the former facing the prospect that it's all over and all that he can do is make sure he gave it all to fight for the only life he's familiar with, the latter reminiscing over the lifestyle he's ending, one that he used to dream of way back in his 20s with his sworn brother. These things are very heavy for both of the men and the part of the track that really emphasizes this is the guitar section around the middle mark, going through soaring and falling in pitch in different ways across two otherwise identical sections - first one feels a lot more out of control, chaotic, desperate and unable to find its place, sealed off with strings that practically scream "Please, don't end it!", however very notably it doesn't feel regretful. The second one meanwhile is much more balanced, but also nostalgic, retrospective and with a feeling of really wishing some mistakes weren't made, wanting to finally put an end to this and feel some relief from the burden.
Shishido isn't an egotistical person who wants to feel power like Aizawa. He already felt certain kind of power and i think he knows anything more isn't exactly for him. He's exactly what he looks like - a wounded warrior who knew no other option than just violence, who in the face of that path ending simply refuses to go down no matter what he's facing. The last Omi standing.
Because the writers wrote their plot into a corner in IW where they can’t connect to the ‘Ichiban find his mom’ plot and ‘Kiryu do his redemption’ plot together naturally, so they can only use Ebina as a plot device.
However the boss fight is worse than Tendo’s, this is no excuse. One shot a character is such a neat JRPG reference.
I think its hard to really say its worse than tendos when ebinas is probably better on the prospect that ebina is from a mechanically better game
@@Norrabal gameplay wise you’re not wrong
@@Norrabal I'll be honest, tendo is not a good fight. He has ONE dangerous move, every other one, except maybe devil's left wing, is worthless and does no damage. He has way too much health on top of resisting physical damages (Which is one of the best aspects of IW: Enemies no longer resisting every type of physical damage) and he's only weak to pure lightning, of which there's almost nothing in the game. His theme is awesome, as is his intro and character, but the fight itself is not good. One dangerous move and one trillion hp just leads to a slog of a fight.
iwami is wayyy too high
If only Gaiden could have a better budget at that time ...
I'm watching the video and yeah, probably my fault, and I appreciate the timestamps to avoid spoilers, but you keep mentioning the guy from Kenzan in later games. 😂
My apologies! He's just the best example of a lackluster final boss, so he wound up being an easy point of comparison in the script later on. I'll be more thoughtful about this in the future!
I personally enjoyed Ebina more than Bryce
You started the tier list great, but then you put iwami( on of the worst boss fights in the framchise) in a tier above aizawa (one of the best boss fights of thw franchise, if you ignore the bad writing of the game). Iwami is a shit final boss by design. It was intended by the plot and design of the game to be a bad fight. Ranking it high goes against what the game established.
And after that you give an A tier to masato arakawa, a fake final boss, considering that tendo was the actual final boss, and the "fight" against arakawa only exists because of the plot, but practically has no gameplay purpose. If they had put some limited brawling gameplay to ichiban, and used that in this fight, it would be good. The way that fight was implemented, it was just lame from a gameplay perspective.
Iwami is what if Munakata or Tenkai was younger and knew how to fight a bit. He's got some marbles but they're the size of these rubbers in pencils.
Yeah, in the very same tier that Ryuji, Majima, Shibusawa, Lao Gui and Takechi... Nope.
I'd put Aizawa on A, Iwami on C... And Arakawa gets to stay in A if we consider "Tendo + Arakawa" as a bundle for the final boss spot, which is more fair imo.
The rest I'm more or less ok with.
I'm sick and tired of seeing ts iwami is literally designed to make you feel that way and that he's a bitch can y'all literally get the point of a decently designed villain
I'm sorry but Aizawa clears Shishido.
1) Aizawa only needs one track to impress while Shishido relies on the usual guitar-heavy epic music and acoustic and transition between the two is a bit jarring.
2) Shishido is a face scan which is lazy and uninspired and feels more like an actor's own little power fantasy meanwhile Aizawa is 100% original powerpilled dreamcel so he can return unlike Shishido who's now under Daidoji and Yokoyama will forget about them.
3) Fuck Omi.
4) Shishido is done, he'll never come back and there's no conflict to give him. He's wasted. Meanwhile, with his relationship with Kurosawa, you can write Aizawa as Ichiban's Ryuji or Shadow. Ichi carries the future of yakuza and fullfills Arakawa's will by helping them to get new life while Aizawa can rebuild what he and other yakuza are used to across the entire country, like Kurosawa wanted to.
5) 5 combat >>> Gaiden combat
Based and Tojopilled
While I agree that Aizawa is not as bad character as many think, the thought that he could comeback is hilariously awful. There is absolutely ZERO reason for him to comeback since Kiryu is done as protagonist, he has no connection to Ichiban to be able to fight him. Yokoyama understands that he is not popular character as well, and if he wanted to bring him back he would did that earlier. Even Shishido has more chance to be brought back, making a Gaiden game out of him, to show his life inside Daidoji. With latest RGG games we see that likeness characters being brought back for the second time is completely fine
@@堂島の龍4649Arai hasn't come back, Kido hasn't come back, Baba hasn't come back, Katsuya hasn't come back, Nagumo hasn't come back, Yuta hasn't come back, Eri hasn't come back and there probably are other face scans that hasn't or won't come back. Shishido and Nishitani III are on the same boat. And about connections. If Yokoyama made Ebina Kiryu's final boss, he can make Ichi vs Aizawa a thing. If I came up with a way to connect these two, Yokoyama can do it as well. This series is a shitshow after Gaiden and Infinite Wealth so even this won't be as bad.
@@solidusgadget Nice, I will be waiting Mikio vs Nanba in the next game because Nanba stole a bento from Mikio. Also would be great to see Hana vs Saeko
@@堂島の龍4649 if RGG Studio had their own version of Sonic Channel, I think that could happen in some monthly story because why not.
It's a bit weird how in my Yakuza/Like A Dragon fanfiction series, the actual encounters and main fights actually have a logical reason to happen in the first place
Are you implying the fights in canon don't?
Also what fanfic?
@@NorrabalI'm mainly referring to some of the fights in the fifth game and also I'm currently working on a fanfiction series featuring a OC I created set in the past of the franchise. It takes place from 1987 to 1999 and there's going to be a total of seven installments.
Interesting.
You writing this somewhere?
@@Norrabal still planning it out in my head