My day today in one image:
20 home runs... in a row... finally done.
And with that I dont think I ever feel the need to SSS Haruka ever again in Yakuza 1. That was a pain in the ass. Hilariously not the mini game itself but everything around it - not being able to instantly restart the mini game (and as far as I can tell, having to exit and enter the batting center each time you miss to reset the challenge). Yeah, RGGS should have fixed that in Yakuza 2... yet they never did :( At least the challenges got exponentially easier as the series went on though.
So... wondering to myself what I'd rank as the hardest challenges in Yakuza (outside of optional stuff like no damage runs or certain perfect runs of Karaoke songs). So far I'd probably choose:
Kenzan's 100%/hostess mini games. Kenzan is no stranger to tough completion list challenges, what with it being one of the first games to actually do a completion list. And nothing shows this off more than the hostess mini games (bar bowling, that's a push over).
The fan game has an AI that almost never misses with the final hostess, but strategy/skill can overcome that one.
The poem card mini game is one that requires not only Japanese knowledge, a great memory and luck - as you have to identify the card required from the small phrase the Kamuro reads out - and you best be quick about finding the card you need, as the AI is incredibly quick to find most cards!
The rhythm mini game again has a final hostess that never misses. I've verified this with other sources, and yeah. You basically have to have reaction of a cat to manage from like stage 5 and up... though this can be finessed somewhat by pausing the game as you play to more easily identify the next move the hostess makes. Still requires insanely quick reactions though as it goes on for 100 turns.
Second (and a close one) is Yakuza 1's Haruka Trust solely because of the Baseball challenge and all the annoyance tied to it. Getting a perfect run together takes an amount of skill to memorise every pitch and learning how to hit each perfectly is also obviously required. But doing that is certainly easier said than done! While its not technically required for any trophy completion - 1/1HD also has the toughest optional mission mode in the entire series, as trying to clear Lau's long fight AND boss fight without taking any damage... good luck with that... now I think about it, for that alone I'd probably put 1 as the hardest to 100%.
Third... I'd probably pick Puyo Puyo on Judge Eyes. Sorta debating its place, as I didn't have anywhere near as many issues as the above, but its certainly no push over (something which can't be said for any other arcade challenge in the series, which are all super easy to clear on my first try). Then again, I'm really not great at Puyo, if I were, it'd not be on this list!
Other stuff to consider - Answer X Answer in 3&4 (PS3 Japanese originals). I forget if Of the End got it as well? Either way, its something really difficult to do unless your both fluent in Japanese and pretty smart when it comes to random trivia. Thankfully the trivia mini game in 7 is leagues easier to clear (with only a time limit to fight against, no AI breathing down your neck here).
Then you have Ishin and Hokuto Ga Gotoku which both had pretty lengthy plat's for me, though I think that's more down to grinding than actual difficulty. Still, that damn arena drop grinding in HGG was a pain in the ass.
Lastly, 2(HD) has an optional completion list (no trophy) which has shit like hitting perfect scores on all batting cages. Which sounds... delightful. But I've never actually tried to 100% 2 (didn't even realise it had a list until recently) so that will certainly be looked into when I replay it soonish.
