10 Awesome Video Games Where The Gameplay Is The Worst Part
2. Yakuza
The Yakuza franchise has enjoyed a major uptick in popularity since the release of Yakuza 0 a few years ago, though this has been more thanks to the outlandish storytelling, larger-than-life characters, and ridiculous side content than the unremarkable gameplay.
Prior to the recently released Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon, which shifted the series to a turn-based RPG format, the franchise was defined by its blunt beat 'em up gameplay.
Though many of the games in the series allowed players to select different fighting styles and level up their various abilities, it was still possible to more-or-less button-mash your way through most encounters, especially if you had a massive supply of health and stamina items on your person.
Generally speaking the combat just doesn't feel very intuitive, especially during boss battles where you're often just trying to steamroll your way through their many, many health bars by any means necessary.
It's particularly frustrating when you have to fend off enemies with ranged weapons, and as such the combat pales massively in comparison to the story, characters, and overall vibrancy of the world it's situated within.
Like A Dragon did wonders for the series with its inspired RPG shift, which only makes going back to play the earlier games in the series even less unappealing.