• There is no autosave, so make sure to save often.
  • Check your notebook for a variety of useful gameplay tips.
  • When you first get to the city, grab some healing items from the convenience store to make an early boss fight easier.
  • You cannot permanently miss anything, eventually you can switch between protagonists and time of day at will.
  • Making the right choices in sidequests earns you better rewards, but you're not locked out of anything critical even if you goof around.
  • You can make a variety of fun weapons with crafting, but it's not necessary for beating the game.
  • A clown near the CP exchange shrine offers free and powerful DLC items, separate for both characters.
  • Every CP you earn gives one to each of the protagonists. So you don't need to "save" CP, and it's actually easier to unlock everything at the shrine than you'd think.
  • To get new arcade games, max out the friendship meter of the arcade lady within the SEGA arcades, one in each city.
  • When given the choice between black and white boxes as Kiryu, the better reward is in
    the black one
    .

Combat, Abilities & Equipment

  • To use a weapon you've bought or found, first equip it from the menu and press "down" in combat to take it out.
  • Heat actions are very context-sensitive, and a lot more weapons than you'd think have unique animations.
  • To get strong enough to have a master teach you new moves, you need to have unlocked an ability space next to one of the locked 'M' spaces.
  • Remember to make use of weapons and equipment but make sure to check their effects too, some might have effects you don't want like attracting more fights.

Business Management

  • Businesses are a much better source of money than random enemies so don't bother grinding the latter.
  • Kiryu can hire many people you encounter in substories as managers later by talking to them, usually outside of your office.
  • Often if there's a business you can advertise in or purchase that has a character with a friendship bar in it, you need to max out that friendship bar first.
  • A sidequest unlocked after a major plot beat in the business awards Kiryu with an item which highlights sidequests on the map.