The friends of Ringo Ishikawa

To those that haven't, play it. It's a slow burn worth every cigarette smoked, book read, and ass kicked.
To Yeo, keep making games, brother. You're taking the lessons from Shenmue and others that I wish the entire industry did.
After playing this game, I'll won't pay anything under full price for your work.

This game has gone above and beyond what I had hoped for it.
Despite its simply appearance and controls. The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a shockingly deep game. You'll bond with friends, get high grades, hold down a job, and train like crazy. This is a slice of life game that you cannot miss out on. 5 out of 5 this game right here shows why the Indie game scene should be supported.

I was moved to write this review after reading that the creator, yeo, called Arrest of the Stone Buddha their favorite project because I think Ringo Ishikawa is not only the flawless execution of yeo's themes it's also a flawless execution of the life sim as promised by Shenmue and Yakuza series. Japanese games have a long history of combining school life with life simulation aspects but that style of balancing work/life has rarely broken out of the Sims franchise in the West.
Ringo is ostensibly a beat 'em up like River City Ransom with no real drawback for losing fights because it's not a game about winning. You're barely even rewarded for fighting but fighting and training are core to the school punk life that you're expected to take the time to work out after school. But you're also a student and so the majority of your monetary allowance and progression is tied to studying. But you also owe it to your fellow delinquents to participate in their lives and are expected to follow a sane schedule and hang out to progress.
It all adds up to a feeling of listlessness that I feel is core to yeo's narrative style. Stone Buddha is a game of cinematic violence punctuating long stretches of aimless wandering to run out the clock. Ringo Ishikawa is about a school punk who resigns himself to be better but can't escape the violence and pervasive self-destructive attitudes of being a gang member. It's a game without a manual or obvious goals, a game where the next narrative thread happens seemingly randomly and in this way it feels more organic than any Yakuza title. It feels aimless up front but as you discover the ways to improve the characters, as you explore the small but detailed world, interact with optional NPCs, learn the schedules of activities, and participate in dialog exchanges with your friends it really breaks free from its arcadey roots and transforms into something deeply meaningful.

One of the best endings in a game, simple but powerful.
A bit buggy at times but nice pixel art.
Hints: Took me more than half the game before I figured out you can double tap to run, and jump to use the outdoor gym.

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a synthesis of both the modern and classic, it commits to its concept of roleplaying as a small town high school gang leader, Ringo Ishikawa, at the end of the line, that line being the final semester of high school. Therefore the game gives you no guide, no direction beyond how to interact with the world through combat and menu controls. As a delinquent, Ringo has been resistant to all forms of authority and is left with nothing but his own will to guide him. The player essentially acts as this will, pointing Ringo to various locations and people, all with whatever preferences that may strike you. The game itself is truly open world, but that also comes with the restrictions of a bleak reality plagued by violence and such. You can do as you wish, but only within the limits of what is reasonably possible for a highschooler with no support network. Whatever experience you end up having, will be almost entirely your own. Even cutscenes and story beats are up to you to find and be in the right place at the right time. I think if I had to put the game's concept into a couple of questions, they would be "What do you do once you've essentially softlocked your own life?" and "What difference will that choice make?" I think the game is one of a kind, and even compared to the developer's other games, it is wholly unique. On Steam and Switch I've logged about 100 hours in the game, which ain't bad at all for the price point.
TLDR: If you're not willing to engage with this game on its own terms and learn through experience, you won't find the artistic value over raw game-play. One of my favorite video games, 8/10.
Some spoiler-free tips for new players would be:
-Don't be afraid to mess things up, the only progress you can lose is if you don't save.
-Be curious, the game holds much more than you can see through rudimentary action indicators.
-Your actions have consequences, try to consider what you do and how it'd actually effect a real world.

the developer has a true grasp, understanding and respect of martial arts
you can see shades of inspiration from other classic games of similar genres (beat 'em up, 90s slice of life, etc)
while also branching past those inspirations - in the best of ways
the dev has been updating the game again, thoroughly checking with his fanbase for their thoughts and opinions
100% worth it at full price, a complete steal if it's on sale
furthermore there's a prequel manga for ringo, and on the otherside of japan, is where yeo's newest game Fading Afternoon takes place, which not a direct sequel, is an outstanding next chapter and new story

Ringo Ishikawa is a game worth trying for a couple reasons. 1: price is solid, 2: there is nothing else really like it, and 3: very good story .
Ringo is a student and the leader of a gang alongside his closest friends, nearing the end of their youth. Between home-life, career-building, and girlfriends, you and your friends are being slowly pulled away from that era and into adult responsibility.
Gameplay is very choice and action driven, and involves a 2D artstyle and beat-em up mechanics similar to say Final Fight or Scott Pilgrim, but tends to highlight the RPG, immersion, and life simulation elements surrounding. Ringo can go to school (or not), study as much as he wants, work part time, eats and sleeps, talk to whomever and advance the story at different paces, and fight with any of the rival gangs around. The fighting is simple but surprisingly deep, with unlockable moves, mentor NPCs, etc, and at the end of fight, Ringo can rifle through his downed enemies pockets, taking a couple dozen yen as a prize.
Story is very self-driven, kinda slice of life-esque but not in a bad way. No epic stuff, just a down to earth rumination on youth, friendship, and fleeting times.
Music is fantastic.