Yakuza series

is yakuza black panther and black panther 2 any good on the psp?

Haven't played it but I was looking into it. It's a spiritual successor to, of all things, Def Jam Fight for New York, which is a surprisingly good game, and looks like it's pretty solid in terms of gameplay. I don't know much about its story being Japanese only, and it's definitely downscaled and not as expansive as the console games, but there's plenty of content despite that.

Hideki Naganuma of Jet Set Radio fame also did the soundtrack, which is godlike.

edited 18th May '18 5:57:23 PM by Hashil

Yakuza 3,4, and 5 Remasters for PS4 have been announced for Japan

Soon we might be having all the numbered games on one system.

Still want Ishin, Kenzan and Dead Souls though.....but i just want more.

Start small. Just give me a US version of the Yakuza Fist of the North Star. The Ken’s Rage games sold well enough here.

With Hokuto no Ken getting the Like a Dragon treatment, I'd actually really dig seeing something similar for Jojo Part 4.

We wouldn't be able to have Takaya Shuroda voice Josuke (though Jotaro would fit like a glove) but otherwise it fits alot of the potential trappings of at least the side aspects of a Yakuza game pretty well, having a relatively small, centralized location, a colorful cast of baddies to beat up on, etc. I don't know about the story itself, but than Hokuto ga Gotoku doesn't seem to be comparable, either.

I don't think this game's formula and stylings fits just any kind of anime or franchise - there's a lot of specific aspects that would put it at odds with, unfortunate as it is to say, anything with a ton of prominent, fighting women as a good example - but can anyone think of things they think would fit well as a spin off?

Excellent video from Super Eyepatch Wolf on Yakuza:

Hokuto Ga Gotoku's coming out in the west as Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, with seemingly less censorship than the Japanese version, and with dual audio.

So this'll be the first game with an English dub in this series since the very first.

edited 11th Jun '18 9:14:55 AM by Hashil

Dubbed? Can't say I saw THAT coming.

And oh fuck, THIS October? Goddamn, that's barely a month after Kiwami 2. I got my hands full this Fall.

I was NOT expecting a dub, especially since the joke is Yakuza characters are voicing their FOTNS counterparts.

...Mark Hamill as Jagi. DO IT.

edited 11th Jun '18 9:19:12 AM by Beatman1

Localization time's shrinking with each new game released recently. 0's western success must of been pretty significant.

edited 11th Jun '18 9:27:07 AM by Hashil

Cool. Moved the page from Fist of the North Star (2018) (which needed to be moved anyway because that was literally never the title of the game) to the new title.

... seriously, I'm honestly baffled as to why someone made the page where they did.

It's getting even better - Yakuza Zero and Kiwami are coming for PC ! This has to be one of the best E3s in years.

edited 11th Jun '18 4:28:29 PM by TAPETRVE

You can grab an English demo for Kiwami 2 on PS 4, now.

And Peacock Moms in HD.

Edited by Hashil on Jul 6th 2018 at 9:45:13 AM

In an interview with Gameblog, Yakuza developers Daisuke Sato and Takaya Kuroda on the possibility on moving the series to the Switch:

Translation by Nintendo Everything.

"Kiryu has never killed a man in his life."

This is a pretty interesting look into just how the series originally came to be, and everything that went into getting the first game off the ground. The pushback against it was strong.

I get the feeling some of the grievances their crime writer consultant had with the somewhat anime-like melodramatic writing are actually still there under the surface, they just mitigate some of it with a coat of verisimilitude.

Edited by Hashil on Jul 18th 2018 at 11:15:24 AM

Apparently you can pick up the dying expletives of mooks to use as weapons to beat yet more mooks to death.

I've been playing Kiwami and it's... weird?

It uses 0's gameplay but mostly better? Outside the fact that the Tiger Drop is absurd and kind of pushes the otherwise unremarkable Dragon style into silly territory, but the fluidity you can eventually switch styles with is fantastic. The Majima Everywhere System is also great (Goromi, Zombie Majima, and Officer Majima are favorites) but also doesn't seem to be something they really thought through with regards to the original story. The Majima family abducts Haruka so that Majima could fight Kiryu except... they fight all the time with much lower stakes now. It even flashes back to an image to him when it happens as if you forgot what the dude who's been stalking you looks like. Also the dude that stabs him... works for him. Why not just shout "stop, man who is my underling and whom I pay and employ." Could of saved him a few pints of blood, maybe.

I'm not done yet but the plot is... something. It feels like it keeps jumping from one subject to the next without a lot of logic. a 20 year old Kiryu just kinda being lead around by older, more experienced people makes sense, but his 37 year old self isn't much different.

Edited by Hashil on Aug 27th 2018 at 12:17:20 PM

I've been playing through Yakuza 0. Love it so far but right now my biggest question what the heck happens to Majima? I only know him (and Kiryu) from Project X Zone 2 where he's a freaking maniac... which he emphatically is not here.

Edited by LordVatek on Aug 27th 2018 at 10:36:22 AM

Well 0 is the origin story for Kiryu & Majima.

So just keep playing & you'll see what made Majima Majima.

As much as I like Crazy Majima, I think he's much better when he drops the act.

Same. He's plenty entertaining and blunt in his more earnest personality in 0.

Once upon a time the Yakuza franchise was marketed very seriously in the west. Big name actors in the dub, downplaying the sillier aspects, etc.

That time is long gone.

Edited by Hashil on Aug 28th 2018 at 8:03:42 AM

Okay I think I get it now. I haven't beaten the game yet but I'm guessing that Majima was pissed about always being a pawn for someone so he used Nishitani's personality to craft a (mostly) fake crazy personality in order to be unpredictable.

Also someone give Makoto a damn hug.

Edited by LordVatek on Aug 30th 2018 at 5:06:27 AM

The Fist of the North Star demo's out, now.

It's fun and definitely a Yakuza game but it takes a bit of adjusting.

I was afraid the dub wasn't going to be all that great but I'm pleasant surprised by it so far.

Edited by Hashil on Sep 4th 2018 at 1:20:39 PM

I'll probabaly stick to the Japanese dub anyway. It doesn't feel right playing a Yakuza game and not hearing Takaya Kuroda's manly bass voice.