This entry feels a lot more accessible and welcoming compared to other games in the series, and the English voice overs help to breath a lot of character into the extremely long plotline. With that said, it feels as though the efforts made to appeal to a western audience for this localization have in turn caused it to become much tamer, especially when it comes to the game's combat difficulty. Despite its minor flaws, Dragon Quest XI's sprawling story easily outshines everything else and makes for an exciting adventure for you to lose yourself in.
Octopath Traveler's choice to break away from the norm and explore an open world JRPG hybrid was a bold move, and while it doesn't quite come through the other end unscathed, the game does do a great job at keeping you engaged.
It focuses on the minutiae of the world, from the detailed shop interiors that serve no purpose other than to ground you in the setting, to the nearby citizens who go about their daily business as anarchy unfolds around them in your wake. But perhaps the greatest feat of all is that the game trusts you, the player, to find it all yourself. By refusing to hold your hand and lead you from A to B, it gives you room to explore, to procrastinate and breathe between story steps, and it's in those moments of respite that you'll find the best of what the Yakuza series has to offer.
Hiding somewhere underneath the murky waters of the story is some of the best fighting action Tekken has ever delivered. Fights are an absolute joy to dive into, whether it's against the AI, against pals on the sofa, or against strangers online, and the diverse cast of fighters means there's someone out there for everybody. I just wish Tekken 7 didn't like the sound of its own voice so much.