Yakuza series

Licensing reasons. You see, this franchise doesn't get much attention in English-countries, and Sega definitely saw no point in getting a song to those who wouldn't like the band.

i was hoping it was done inhouse or something. Dammit, the song is so good.

Just finished the game a few days ago. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best Yakuza game. Better than 2 as far as story goes, and of couser better in gameplay. It's a good starting point for the newcomers too. I can't recommend this game enough.

Not yet complete as of now, but here's a fan-made documentary on the series' humble beginnings.

Got a PS 4 on Black Friday. Unfortunately, I had to leave it at my parents until Christmas (didn't check a bag). Got 0 for $30 and Kiwami Steelbook edition for $20.

... I'm going to be busy for a while.

Interview with Scott Strichart who oversaw localization for Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and 6.

It's a great read on the localization process and how they tried to convey Japanese culture to Americans.

So.

I don't get the Real Estate Royale. I've bought every business in the first area. Do I just have to wait until the guy challenges me in order to get a higher stake in the area? That's... bullshit.

EDIT: I get it now. Have to upgrade shops. Makes sense.

edited 20th Apr '18 6:55:52 AM by Larkmarn

So I picked up 0 recently like pretty much everyone new to the series in the west and it's incredible. The combat's great, the cinematography and writing are solid, and the sea of side content has taken up more of my time than the main story.

I guess if I have any gripe it's Kiryu himself. Guy's just... boring? In Chapter 6 after The Dojima clan's gunning for him he basically doesn't react to anything with any real emotion. Not even his sworn brother trying to mercy kill him and his subsequent break down when he can't do it.

I just don't buy him as a real person at all, and with Majima as a counterpart and other playable character he just looks even worse by comparison.

He takes a bit to really come into his own in this game. Kiryu is a very stoic person who takes alot of responsibility to his own detriment but for the better of others. In this game, it winds up getting him into deeper and deeper shit since he has no plan. By the end of the game... Lets just say he definitely shows emotion.

Hopefully more than just growling anger and Kenshiro-esque tender tears.

On the other hand, Majima is pretty great. I know he's supposed to go crazy down the road but from what I've seen it feels a bit like he already is? Man really, really loves hurting people when he fights, and while he does the stone faced bad ass shtick a lot too I like that he can throw on as many convincing masks as he needs to get through whatever. I can buy him as a cabaret manager as readily as I do his weird idol front man fantasy. No wonder everyone loves him.

Play the side stories. They showcase that there's much more to Kiryu than that while still being in character.

The side stories are amazing, but the main story shows an emotional man in an unemotional world, and it really makes him a sympathetic character.

But again, the side stories are freaking hilarious.

I just spent the better part of last month playing thru Yakuza 5. I really liked it despite a few quirks. Cut thru the main story and all sub and side stories in around 80 hours and never really felt disengaged from the experience. It helped that I often played this game for many hours at a time a day every day.

Also, I noticed that 6 was just released in the US a couple weeks back yet barely anyone here has talked about it. Any impressions so far?

edited 2nd May '18 12:35:50 AM by Nettacki

I've finished the game, and I liked it alot. However, it is pretty flawed, and a step down from 0. Mainly because it's the debut of the Dragon Engine, their brand new PS 4 focused engine, and while it makes the game more immersive than ever, makes out of combat movement great, removes alot of load times and has a ton of potential for interactivity, it has alot of growing pains. For example, a bunch of areas and minigames aren't in the game, and the second city, Onomichi, feels a bit sparse (This could very well be the intention for it, since it's a very quiet, rural area, but it starts to feel like it was made that way at least partially to asset constraints). Combat is also a bit too slippery and floaty, and Kiryu's moveset feels more restrictive. Extreme Heat, his super mode is a nice addition, but feels like it makes your abilities outside of it too limited due to the number of heat moves only useable in it. Also because of how you level up your abilities, attacking and dodging feel like shit before you upgrade them, which is a big no no for games like this. Buyable weapons have been removed too, and the ones you pick up from enemies break very quickly, and there's very few of them. The new EXP system is great though, and feels like an evolution of Yakuza 0's money systems.

There's still alot to love in the game. The Side Stories are great as always, one particular 3 parter is one of the best in the series that being, Ono-Michio. The mood of the game is still great, and I love the atmosphere in Onomichi. The story has some issues, but there's strong themes of ageing, and passing on to the next generation, it's better than that one YMMV entry makes it out to be. (Which was written before the game was officially translated, so it's on shaky ground already) There's still a ton of stuff to do, and there's some real winners with the Club Sega games. All the Classic games from 0 are back, and you get the full Arcade versions of Puyo Puyo and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown.

It's a damn good game, but suffers from feeling like a Beta test of their new engine. I'm optimistic about the future, since RGG Studio are good at improving on each entry, and i'm really looking forward to how they can use the potential the Dragon Engine has.

edited 20th May '18 1:36:50 AM by Emperordaein

Kiryu... I like him because as the games go on, it's increasingly shown that he's really not meant to be a Yakuza. Period. And his adoptive father knew that. But the thing is, he's really good at it. But at his nature, he's a giant boy scout who just happens to be excellent at busting skulls, upholding yakuza honor, and being the "ideal" yakuza.

It's hard for me to say why he's so appealing. I can't, say he's not "bland" because objectively he is, I just think he's incredibly nuanced.

... also, he's a grown up Ryo Hazuki. No one can ever convince me otherwise.

edited 2nd May '18 7:12:40 AM by Larkmarn

I suppose not everyone can be as bombastic and dynamic as Majima, and maybe they shouldn't all be, but just in terms of seeing him bounce of off other people, I'm enjoying him a whole lot more. Kiryu definitely has his little moments (the world's most epic mushi mushi in particular) but I mean

even his disco dancer avatar has a perpetual scowl. He's great in a vanilla protagonist way but I think it's gonna be a struggle at times in the games where there isn't someone else to play as.

Doesn't Kiwami 2 use that new dragon engine? Hopefully they've improved it in that one. Gonna really miss swapping between different styles after Kiwami either way.

The scowl is part of what makes his character so entertaining for me. He's deliberately meant to be Adorkable and Comically Serious in contrast to the much hammier Majima.

I suppose it depends on if you consider him The Straight Man or The Comically Serious, then. I generally lean towards the latter, but he could be perceived as the former.

edited 2nd May '18 11:43:03 AM by Larkmarn

Managed to get both Dragon of Dojima and Mad Dog of Shimano, so now I can actually continue the story mostly undistracted. I've never played the older games so I don't have the nostalgia inherent to the former, but it's pretty great spending so much time with its components and how they more or less dissected his classic style and expanded it into three distinct movesets. It's a lot of fun but it feels more like a bonus than anything else.

Majima's Mad Dog is nuts, though. I pretty much turned off Dragon and only used it for style points or to beat on Mr. Shakedown worry free since it feels so powerful and has such a lenient counter, but I'm still acclimatizing to how strange Mad Dog plays compared to pretty much anything else. I keep reading it's busted but I haven't really felt that just yet. It is incredibly fun and technical, though, like all of Majima's styles aside from maybe Slugger.

Finished 0.

I watched the Super Best Friends play this after the fact and I disagree with Pat that Shimano using Majima without telling him didn't make sense - the guy was expelled from the family in the first place for being overly sentimental towards Saejima and hotheaded, but he was also fiercely loyal to the Shimano family even after the fact, years after being strung along, and he jumped on the chance to get back in. Knowing all that, I think it makes a lot of sense. Not telling Sagawa was kind of stupid, on account of his nearly killing Makoto via car bomb, but he had it half way right.

The plot otherwise was decent. A bit screwy at times in that Kiryu only lives through dumb luck, and I'm still not sure where this emotion he'd show by the end was? I guess there was his whole reacting to Tachibana's death, but that was pretty much just the manly tears I was expecting. Majima's arc was naturally a lot more interesting and leaves a lot open to interpretation, which I love. Shibusawa and Awano secretly being giant badasses felt a bit cheap since it comes out of nowhere, though.

10/10 game over all though. Gonna really enjoy making my way through Kiwami and Kiwami 2 as thoroughly as I did this one once I finish my Legend playthrough.

I was referring to Kiryu's reaction to Tachibana's death. And to a greater extent the side stories, especially ones like the Dominatrix or Porno Mag ones. Don't worry, you'll see his compassionate side come out even more in Kiwami when Haruka enters the picture.

Regarding Awano and Shibusawa, I didn't mind them being A-Class fighters, since Kuze already indicated that Dojima's lieutenants were tough fighters (In a very anime sort of framing, that they're his top 3, so they must be tough) although I would have liked more build up to Shibusawa being not just a good fighter, but his best fighter. They built him up as an expert strategist and manipulator well, but not that he would be the kind of physical threat that he was.

Is the whole "Kiryu never kills" thing something they've maintained all through the series?

Because that gets more and more difficult to buy as time goes on.

Kiryu is sort of like Arkham series Batman. It’s TECHNICALLY not him killing so...loophole!

I found it hilarious that as Majima is fleeing with the blind girl, he's snapping necks in QT Es even though the entire point is that he's never killed someone before.

You'll have your answer in Kiwami, trust me.