Oh... Oh yes, I too will be looking forward to your impressions. Y5 definitely has some of the series' highest highs and lowest lows somehow packaged in one rough, yet endearing package.
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Yakuza Community |OT| Complete Global Saturation
- Thread starter Son of Sparda
- Start date
Oh... Oh yes, I too will be looking forward to your impressions. Y5 definitely has some of the series' highest highs and lowest lows somehow packaged in one rough, yet endearing package.
Yeah....
Honestly the more I play outside of 4 and 5 the more I've come to see them as the tweener games where the Y team was going through growing pains and temporarily lost the ball for a bit. If they overreached in 4, then by comparison they straight up Icarus'd with 5. Luckily for everyone's sake they seemed to have taken it on the chin and have done much more manageable things in later games.
Personally I hope we don't ever see more than 2 playable characters again, 3 at the most, and never in the part format again. It was clear they had severely miscalculated on how much it would impact pacing when they expanded the roster, and narrowing characters entire story down to one solid part with a section in the finale just left everyone underdeveloped. Personally I think they also screwed up 4 by shoehorning Kiryu into it, but that's neither here nor there I guess lol
It's another reason why I'm happy they went with an older mc for Shin. To me that says we're not going to have another Kiryu again , and that the series is going to constantly stay fresh with new protags and characters to tell stories with. As much as I dig Kiryu, I'm totally cool with them just doing a 2-3 game at most MC and then starting over again.
Not that important, really. As long as you have K under your belt you'll be fine. 6 has a lengthy summary built into the opening for people who've only done K, so you'll be fine.
Some form of 1 is really the only thing I'd say you just absolutely need in order to play 6.
I really enjoyed the first part of 5 (especially all the taxi side stuff which I got into more than most Yakuza side content), but it's been dragging a bit since then (in part 3 just now), tempted to start mainlining it a bit more to see if the story starts to come together a bit more
pa22word, I think you're right on the ball there. For 4, if they wanted another Kiryu game, the entire thing would've gone smoother if they'd just had him and Saejima playable, with a larger role for Majima (and no Akiyama or Tanimura in the game at all). All of the protagonists got the most paper-thin of characterizations here, to where I think I actually appreciated Hamazaki's arc more than Akiyama's.
0 was sublime, and it's clear how much the team grew and learned over a decade of making Yakuza games. Kiryu in Kamurocho, Majima in Sotenbori, and both of them felt like fully realized characters that we spent enough time with and appropriately got a feel for. No part structure, either. We switch to the other character every 2 chapters.
Agreed on Shin, and I'm thinking maybe they'll kill the new main character at the end of his game. Who knows.
0 was sublime, and it's clear how much the team grew and learned over a decade of making Yakuza games. Kiryu in Kamurocho, Majima in Sotenbori, and both of them felt like fully realized characters that we spent enough time with and appropriately got a feel for. No part structure, either. We switch to the other character every 2 chapters.
Agreed on Shin, and I'm thinking maybe they'll kill the new main character at the end of his game. Who knows.
Speaking of Akiyama, I felt like rambling a bit on him, so here goes.
I mean no disrespect to his fans, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the character in 5, but new guy failed to impress for me personally.
He's a character I knew to be a fan favorite before I'd even played the game, so I was expecting some greatness. His charms eluded me the entire way through, however.
Ok, so, the guy was formerly a big shot banker / day trader, who became homeless and used the raining money from Yakuza 1 to get back on his feet... that's not enough to casually link him to prior events and characters, though, so let's put his office directly above New Serena for good measure. Why not? Also, he's absurdly, insanely, ridiculously rich, to the point that he has a secret vault right there in his office that he keeps all the money in. He could easily use some of it to help Kamurocho's homeless population (several of which are his friends!), but instead chooses to play games with his gimmick loans, asking single mothers to work at his hostess club before they're eligible to get the cash to feed their kids. Ah damn, I forgot he did help his homeless pals!!!... with like $20 worth of convenience store food, at the start of the game.
He's got no real character arc beyond "Damn, I supported a yakuza and got fucked in the end", and "I liked Yasuko, shame she's dead". Humorously enough, Arai and Yasuko both seemed to forget all about Akiyama after Part 1, having more important things to deal with in the story.
Ok, so, the guy was formerly a big shot banker / day trader, who became homeless and used the raining money from Yakuza 1 to get back on his feet... that's not enough to casually link him to prior events and characters, though, so let's put his office directly above New Serena for good measure. Why not? Also, he's absurdly, insanely, ridiculously rich, to the point that he has a secret vault right there in his office that he keeps all the money in. He could easily use some of it to help Kamurocho's homeless population (several of which are his friends!), but instead chooses to play games with his gimmick loans, asking single mothers to work at his hostess club before they're eligible to get the cash to feed their kids. Ah damn, I forgot he did help his homeless pals!!!... with like $20 worth of convenience store food, at the start of the game.
He's got no real character arc beyond "Damn, I supported a yakuza and got fucked in the end", and "I liked Yasuko, shame she's dead". Humorously enough, Arai and Yasuko both seemed to forget all about Akiyama after Part 1, having more important things to deal with in the story.
I mean no disrespect to his fans, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the character in 5, but new guy failed to impress for me personally.
I mean, I strongly like his vibe. The laid back, easygoing attitude is extremely rare among protagonists in Yakuza games. Even his fighting style reflects his attitude where he's carelessly doing quick kick-attacks, almost as if he has his hands held behind his back. I feel like he contrasts really well with the rest of the cast. Also, I recall him having a strong intro in the rain.
As someone who really enjoyed Cowboy Bebop as a kid, Akiyama heavily reminded me of the protagonist Spike Spiegel. Since they share the same VO, I imagine that may have been intentional.
Regarding the spoiler topic. I always saw him as character intended to be extremely goofy, almost larger than life character in terms of how comedic his wealth is, his secret vault and all that. I never really got bothered by plot holes or minor character inconsistencies in the Yakuza games. He's just a really fun character and the connection to the first game still ended up feeling pretty meaningful to me, even though it was absolutely outrageous.
He kind of has some of that rainy-mood, melodramatic vibe as well, which feels reminiscent to Yakuza 2, my favorite Yakuza title before Y0.
He kind of has some of that rainy-mood, melodramatic vibe as well, which feels reminiscent to Yakuza 2, my favorite Yakuza title before Y0.
Unfortunately he has even less of a focus in Yakuza 5.
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Can definitely see the merit in this viewpoint. You're right, he does work as a more lighthearted, laid-back sort of character, in contrast to the raw seriousness of characters like Kiryu, Saejima, and 1988 Majima. Akiyama is totally unique in attitude and demeanor, so he's got that going for him.
Yeah i would not attempt a trophy run again for atleast 1 year of rest, i love Yakuza franchise but doing this is very time consuming. At this point i will go with GoW then Y6, then later i would do Kiwami 1 and 2. Also the car chase actually went good did it at the 2 try, had more problems keeping Makoto alive after that and almost fucked it up.
Also talking about Kiwami, did they add more scenes? I still haven't played it (in the shelf since launch) because i still remember OG Y1 and was waiting for Y0 platinum run.
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Yeah, there are new scenes featuring Nishiki. I don't really have a point of comparison since I never played the original, but I can't imagine them not being there, since they do help the narrative (especially coming off 0, which is what they're there for).
Nishiki development in the original was kinda weak so it's good they add some extra scenes.
I finished 4 not too long ago and felt similarly. Even after hearing about the
rubber bullets
Yeah, I thought with his bro being a playable character that he would have shown up more.
Gah, that sucks. Although he had the weakest story in 4, I really liked Akiyama.
Oh man.
I'd heard of the infamous "rubber bullets" beforehand too, but had no idea of the context. Figured maybe a character "dies" to them, only to reappear later. They did do that with the police commissioner dude, but nothing could prepare me for the bigger BS way in which they were used.
That monstrous hit that Saejima committed against the Ueno Seiwa in 1985? Not actually him, nope! Rubber bullets, bucko! Wow.
That monstrous hit that Saejima committed against the Ueno Seiwa in 1985? Not actually him, nope! Rubber bullets, bucko! Wow.
Aurc Yeah I enjoy Akiyama because of his style and personality but his actions and morality in Y4 are... Really weird, it rubbed me the wrong way. And then there's the whole Saejima and Haruka thing, Y4 was pretty weird lol.
It's convoluted as hell too and while 5 is technically even worse, your motivations to fight the bad guys are less confusing IMO. I don't even remember why I fought half of the final bad guys in 4 at all.
edo_kid Yeah Nishiki in Y1 compared to Kiwami are night and day. Not only 0 gives him more background but Kiwami adds one flashback cutscene per story chapter, showing what happened to him while Kiryu was away and the story scenes with Majima are all extended too.
It's convoluted as hell too and while 5 is technically even worse, your motivations to fight the bad guys are less confusing IMO. I don't even remember why I fought half of the final bad guys in 4 at all.
edo_kid Yeah Nishiki in Y1 compared to Kiwami are night and day. Not only 0 gives him more background but Kiwami adds one flashback cutscene per story chapter, showing what happened to him while Kiryu was away and the story scenes with Majima are all extended too.
I am in a bit of an odd situation here. I just got my friend's PlayStation 4 to catch up to you guys, but I figured I would get the digital preorder of 6 that comes with 0, but cannot do so until the first. Problem is I already have Kiwami and kinda just want to play it now. Is there any major drawback to playing Kiwami before 0? I know it is basically just a stand alone expansion pack but I am worried it might spoil some portions of 0's story for me.
I am thinking otherwise I might just wait until later in the year to play Kiwami 1 right before Kiwami 2 comes out because three of these games in the span of a month seems like overkill. I already played through the original Yakuza ages ago so I guess there is no rush to go through Kiwami right now, I am just kind of jonesin to play.
I am thinking otherwise I might just wait until later in the year to play Kiwami 1 right before Kiwami 2 comes out because three of these games in the span of a month seems like overkill. I already played through the original Yakuza ages ago so I guess there is no rush to go through Kiwami right now, I am just kind of jonesin to play.
Kiwami 1 doesn't spoil anything from Zero, so you're fine in that regard. The reason many of us suggest playing Zero before Kiwami is because Zero's story is so good, that it enhances the emotional impact of what happens in the following game. Sure there are some things that carry over, but they're delegated to the side quests and not the main story. So if that doesn't bother you, and since you've played the original Yakuza 1 anyway, you're good to go if you want to play Kiwami now.
Major drawback? It's subjective I guess. They added new content to Kiwami that ties in with 0, and playing 0 really fleshes out some of the characters and their arcs in Kiwami that IMO would be rather flat and underdeveloped without playing Zero. As far as I remember there's no spoilers that you wouldn't already know from playing 1 before, but I wouldn't suggest playing them out of order unless you can't avoid it due to that extra character depth and emotional impact. You could always download the demo of 6 and screw around with that for now.
Yeah, I totally share your opinion on most of this. Based on all the games we've seen from the Yakuza Team, I feel like 2 playable characters was the sweet spot in terms of both gameplay and story/plot pacing. That said, we haven't seen them try juggling 3 protagonists, and I think that could actually work out pretty damn well, too! But definitely no more than that.
And yes, I think them unnecessarily shoving Kiryu into 4 did indeed further screw up that game's story, hah.
I do disagree a bit in regards to Ichiban's inclusion in Shin, though. I think they'll keep Ichiban around as long as he stays popular enough. Which is to say they'll write his story in such a way that it can stand on its own if the general fan reaction is negative towards him, but be left open-ended enough for him to continue on as the series protagonist if he is well-received. Kind of like what they did with Kiryu way back in the end of Yakuza 1. That said, I do think you're probably right in that we probably won't see him as the lead for near as many games as we got with Kiryu (in large part due to his already older age), regardless of his popularity.
Oh, no, I was actually referring to the car chase on Legend in Kiwami! You're right that the one in 0 thankfully isn't too bad.
I really wish they could get Tanimura back. I know why they haven't, but still.
I think he's the most short changed character in the series. It burns that we don't get any more of him, but can't shake Saejima.
Yes, I know I'm the only person who doesn't particularly like Saejima.
I think he's the most short changed character in the series. It burns that we don't get any more of him, but can't shake Saejima.
Yes, I know I'm the only person who doesn't particularly like Saejima.
I won't stand for the slander against the good name of Seijima ;) your not the only person to not like Seijima, I've seen plenty who didn't care for his parts in 4 and 5. For me I really loved his character in 5 even if it was a bit wasted with the first part of his section, I just love how he's this huge tank of a character, but is a rather laid back guy until you push him far enough that he'll hulk out. Also, I was so glad that he cut his hair in 5, awful, awful look he had in 4!
Man now im getting tempted to go play Kiwami, im getting curious about the new scenes.
Oh i see, is it really that rotten?
If you don't have the time to play Kiwami now, it might be worth just checking out the half dozen or so new cutscenes they gave Nishiki. It really helps flesh his character out. Bar the combat improves made over the first game its easily the best thing to come out of Kiwami. Improves the original story so much (and I really liked the original story).
This next couple weeks i have less time than normal to play, so maybe i will just play the main story since it's not that big.
I'll grant you he's a lot better with the haircut, but I just found him to be a boring character, to be honest.
That I can understand. Personally I loved his interactions with Majima in 4 and 5 (the prologue of his chapter in 5). Plus I loved some of his boss fights late in the game. And I just really love his fighting style. Guess I'm just a big fan of his! Really hope he gets used again in Shin RGG.
Makes sense. Its a short game for sure, so you could totally get through it fairly quick. Enjoy :)
Oh, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 (steelbook) is now up for pre order (on Amazon) in the UK. Got mine pre ordered already, can't wait :)
Have been playing 6 for about thirty
hours now and man, such a great game. Though I didn't expect much because of many negative comments I read online. Feels truly next gen in comparison to Zero, which only felt like a little jump from 5. Can't wait to see how they further improve the engine and systems in Kiwami 2 and later games.
hours now and man, such a great game. Though I didn't expect much because of many negative comments I read online. Feels truly next gen in comparison to Zero, which only felt like a little jump from 5. Can't wait to see how they further improve the engine and systems in Kiwami 2 and later games.
I just beat Yakuza 0. Well, the main story and a majority of the subplots and all of the cabaret/real estate stuff. If you 100%ed the game, did you enjoy yourself? I started kind of dreading playing the game after 75 hours. I mean I enjoyed it all the way, but I felt spent once I finished up most of the game. I can't imagine slaving away for 70 more hours to 100% the completion list. Are the rest of the games this packed with content? I'm giving myself a little breather before I continue on with Kiwami.
I put in about 100 hours during the main game, but I'm still in Premium Adventure and just come back to it now and again. I haven't even finished the businesses yet or all sidestories. But I like it that way, there's always something to do when I come back. With Kiwami I felt much more dread due to the Majima Everywhere system.
Yeah, I could see myself popping in for a couple hours here and there, but I definitely needed the break. I forced myself to exclusively play this game until I finished the story, so I feel relieved!
I love 100%ing the games. Its bizarre as I'm not one to do it for most games (especially open world games, the content generally puts me to sleep). Yakuza just ticks the right boxes and I just love to experience absolutely everything in the games. I'm working on doing Fist of the North Star 100% right now, looks like it'll take a while but I just love how the game is structured in terms of side stuff, with a nice mix of old and new stuff in the game for me to do.
With regards to other games in the series, 0 is one of the largest, I'd argue content wise only 5 is larger (Its bloody huge) while other games such as Ishin (and apparently FOTNS) are pretty long 100%s due to the grind in certain places. Can't comment on FOTNS yet but Ishin was certainly a grind at points. Kiwami is a shorter 100%, 6 is a super short (by the series standards) platinum but if you aim to 100% the completion list its still pretty darn long (I spent 100+ hours on it and never managed to do absolutely every goal in the game). Other games in the series are around the 80-100 mark depending, earlier games (1-3) are much shorter to do while any game from 4 and up has a decent amount of content to keep you busy for quite a while!
With regards to other games in the series, 0 is one of the largest, I'd argue content wise only 5 is larger (Its bloody huge) while other games such as Ishin (and apparently FOTNS) are pretty long 100%s due to the grind in certain places. Can't comment on FOTNS yet but Ishin was certainly a grind at points. Kiwami is a shorter 100%, 6 is a super short (by the series standards) platinum but if you aim to 100% the completion list its still pretty darn long (I spent 100+ hours on it and never managed to do absolutely every goal in the game). Other games in the series are around the 80-100 mark depending, earlier games (1-3) are much shorter to do while any game from 4 and up has a decent amount of content to keep you busy for quite a while!
Getting closer beating Yakuza 6. Only two more chapters to go I think / feel. Pretty much did most of the side content too, only missing like 2 or 3 more sidequests (hostess club). Will likely do those before making my way to the finale. Finished the snack bar in Onomichi earlier. That was lovely. One of the best side contents in the game for sure. I wonder if I should try to get some grinding in the Clan battles and getting Kiryu's stats up to level 300 out of the way or keep that for premium adventure. Well, I guess I will decide as I go. I just realized I haven't even touched Mahjong yet, so I should do that too.
Either way: the game is still great. I hope it will stick its landing.
Either way: the game is still great. I hope it will stick its landing.
It was my first Yakuza game, so I was just amazed at the sheer variety and fun of this modestly sized, yet densely packed world they'd crafted. I did real estate, cabaret club, every substory, filled out the menu at the Dragon & Tiger, etc. and had a blast doing it all. The only things I ignored were stuff like cat fights and mahjong, the former for being a boring RNG game, and the latter because I have no idea how to play (and keep putting off learning).
Can definitely see why someone would get burnt out, though. It's a super long game if you're tackling side content in addition to the main story. Right now I'm cleaning up side stuff in 4, and Kiryu has this game where he beats up random gang thugs around town. It started off kinda cool, but halfway through I just wanted it to be over. Very repetitive.
So can anyone tell me how difficult 6 is? I always have to ask around before I start a new Yakuza game because the difficulty has varied so much throughout the series.
Good main story and charming substories, its considered best in the series.
Damn. Major commendations, dude. I'm impressed by your dedication!Finally managed to finish my Yakuza 5 run on Normal (the last thing I needed to get the Platinum Trophy). That means that I now have the Platinum trophies of all the Yakua games released in the West:
How's the 5 Plat? I'm working on 4 at the moment, and have noticed a distinct lack of "mastery" trophies, like the one for needing to "beat" all minigames in Yakuza 3. Instead, it merely asks that you play these activities once each. Massive difference there, and just wanted to know if 5 is like that too.
It was probably the Plat that took me the longest in part because I made some mistakes along the way (like opening lockers with Haruka and doing my first run on Hard thinking that it would also unlock the Normal Trophy). Having to finish all the Coliseum with all 4 characters also took a very long time. It took so long that I stopped playing Yakuza 5 for more than a year. At one point I almost thought that I would never get Yakuza 5's Plat.
Nice to hear. I haven't heard much about it but the fact it's over 10 years old & hasn't been localised, has a lot to do with that.
Yep. 4 did have my favorite ending until 0, though.
On a tangential note, can anyone recommend Yakuza films? Ideally with the famous guys from 0? I've seen Battles Without Honor And Humanity.
I'm not the best person to answer the question probably, as I think most of the series is rather easy. But my opinion is the game is fairly easy going on hard mode. Like other games in the series, bosses can do some serious damage if your not careful, but its not an insanely hard game. Plus you can level Kiryu up to become pretty overpowered if you wish! Heat moves are also pretty damaging, so use those at your discretion to make fights last longer/shorter.
Finally managed to finish my Yakuza 5 run on Normal (the last thing I needed to get the Platinum Trophy). That means that I now have the Platinum trophies of all the Yakua games released in the West:
Awesome job :) This is one of my goals going forward as well. I want to plat the series if I can, only ones I see as tough are Yakuza 3 (mini game master) and RGG 1 HD (Haruka Trust final baseball mission). The rest I've done the 100% requirements, just need to do EX Hard/Legend replays.
Its definitely still ranked as one of the best for me. Its got one of my single favourite side stories in the entire series that made me cry with laughter when I saw it. Bearing in mind the year the game takes place, it was one of the most absurd ideas for a side story I've seen and I loved it.
For those that played Kenzan already, I'm talking about the
Alien abduction side story where you see a UFO (well, not really) stealing a cow from a field with its tractor beam, complete with a brilliant piece of licensed music that fit the mood perfectly!
Not really a Yakuza film (it's about gangs though), but Sion Sono's Tokyo Tribe might be the greatest musical of all time and it has Riki Takeuchi hamming it the fuck up.
Sounds great. What about the guy who plays Kuze? Apparently he's Yakuza royalty, I could only find a clip from this one:
No idea if it's any good or not.
Thanks. I'm only going to Plat the Western releases. It's my way of showing support to the series.
I've got to be honest with you, my eyes totally glazed over when I tried to play shogi and mahjong. I just couldn't force myself to figure out how to play either game. Maybe someday when I've got a free minute.
The weapons search and catfight things are also areas that I didn't spend much time on. They both seem needlessly complex and confusing, though I'm sure I'm making both out to be more complicated than they really are. I played through the catfight once and won every match somehow, and I had no idea what I did or if there was any logic to winning.
The cabaret royale stuff was catnip to me and I had no issue seeing that through to completion.
Finally managed to finish my Yakuza 5 run on Normal (the last thing I needed to get the Platinum Trophy). That means that I now have the Platinum trophies of all the Yakua games released in the West:
Congrats, that's a lot of hours right there.
Didn't intend to do many side stories but you have been intrigued. Is the system the same as 3 & 4 (they don't appear on the map)?
Here is my latest Yakuza pickup! That CD and its packaging are both truly great!
It's going to be really weird not having new games with Kiryu.
Nice! I still haven't put an order on any CDs, but I definitely want to pick up the Y6 OST. The Karaoke collections look awesome too.
This arrived today. Figured I had to grab it once we found out there was no CE for the English release, and since Yakuza 2 is one of my favourite games.
I'm just not sure if i should go through this now, since the Kiwami 2 localisation is still a little ways off.
Nice! I still haven't put an order on any CDs, but I definitely want to pick up the Y6 OST. The Karaoke collections look awesome too.
This arrived today. Figured I had to grab it once we found out there was no CE for the English release, and since Yakuza 2 is one of my favourite games.
I'm just not sure if i should go through this now, since the Kiwami 2 localisation is still a little ways off.
Yeah, its a real beauty. I love my LE copy. Bit saddened that FOTNS didn't get similar treatment (but hey, the game rocks so I don't really mind!)
Worse! Its actually like Yakuza 1 and 2 (for the PS2) so if you don't do certain missions at a certain point in time, or choose the wrong option you can screw yourself out of later side stories :( And yeah, they are also not on a map. Definitely use a guide, they are well worth doing as there are some really funny ones in the game.