Well, Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1 and 2 will be more than enough for the time being :D
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The Yakuza Remastered Collection |OT| Fuma, Rubber, and Dreams Remastered
- Thread starter Aurc
- Start date
Oh I do. I got the platinum in 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2 so I'm experienced at it lol. I just couldn't believe how brutal that was.
I can certainly believe it. I've had Mahjong, Cee Lo, Koi Koi etc. runs both go very wrong (and very right!) in the blink of an eye. 3's AI/RNG though for gambling I swear is more brutal, especially on Koi Koi - I've played that mini game for more than a decade now and do well on it in each game except 3, where it really makes me work for the completion list!
Watch the running meter. Every time you screw up it takes a chunk off your meter, and running will deplete it slowly so you only have a limited amount of time to catch your target even if you don't screw up.
Not enjoying 3 that much, I played the later entries first so I knew it would be dated but the sub stories seem boring as well and not as wacky. The town seems generic too. Only up to chapter 4.
Out of curiosity, is the Matsuya gyuudon shop still in these versions or are they replaced by Akaushimaru?
Making strong progress in Ch.5 substories but ohhhh this game holds no punches even in side fights. One of them featured a few dudes running and flopping about and generally kicking my butt, while another was what otherwise seemed like some regular punk but no chump at all. Somehow I won the darts battle as in I actually got to 0, which was pretty amazing imo. Death Bowler was surprisingly a chump btw. An boy oh boy do they really want you to have to have the Dodge Shot move. All in all lessons relearned: save more frequently, carry healing items!!
Dunno about the others but still Matsuya in 3.
I'm starting to get the timing of Tiger Drop down in Kawami, and hot dang is it making the Majima fights a walk in the park.
It beats the hell out of my original strategy of pressing square in beast mode for 8 minutes as a time.
It beats the hell out of my original strategy of pressing square in beast mode for 8 minutes as a time.
For any Yakuza game (aside Kiwami 2, 6 and 7) the Tiger Drop is your best friend, it works against pretty much every attack from what I understand and it deals insane damage (and in 3&4, bounces people off walls for follow up combos)
Yeah shadowman16 its nuts. I finished the "final" Majima fight in a fraction of the time of a normal one.
I marathoned through 3 over the course of a week and finished it right before I went to bed last night. I don't think it's inherently a bad game since IMO, I don't think there's a single Yakuza game that sucks (I've yet to do 4 and 5). Each game has its flaws that can be pointed out. But having played 0, PS2 1, PS2 2, K1, K2, and 6, there's a few things that were undercooked such as the boring hostess club management. I can see how it's an improvement from PS2 Y2 even though I find it annoying that Kiryu gets nerfed at the beginning of every Yakuza game.
However, I will say that 3 is definitely slower paced as opposed to K1 and K2. Tonally, the focus on familial themes and brotherhood certainly had to do with that. I liked Mine's turn around in the end if it's very similar to Nishiki sacrificing himself with the big bad in 1. Additionally, a good chunk of the substories followed a similar format. They were either beat up people, fetch quests, or chase quests with a few gems here and there. I also see how 3 and 6 are quite similar in plot although I also saw some 0 stuff in there. Was it bonkers? Absolutely.
Overall, I think 3 is a mediocre game. I liked Okinawa as a setting since it reminds me of Onomichi from 6 and I get what they were going for with making Kiryu a paternal figure. Plus the villains were fairly grounded. But in terms of content and combat, 0's rating system is still king. I don't know where I would personally rank 3 in the series but I don't think it would be in my top 3. One last thing I will say that I liked about 3 is I really liked how 3 doesn't pull any melodramatic punches with a deus ex machina boss. You fight Richardson a few times, then Mine and that's it. Mic drop, no BS speeches. The same can't be said for K1, K2 and the later games.
Last time I checked, I think I was at 47% by the end of the credits. I'm glad it's over all things considered. A good chunk of the trophies look extremely annoying to get and I would have to learn mahjong to put a dent in completing each series. I might just jump straight into 4 since the latter two games are alien to despite knowing the general plot. After that, I will probably take a break before jumping into 5.
However, I will say that 3 is definitely slower paced as opposed to K1 and K2. Tonally, the focus on familial themes and brotherhood certainly had to do with that. I liked Mine's turn around in the end if it's very similar to Nishiki sacrificing himself with the big bad in 1. Additionally, a good chunk of the substories followed a similar format. They were either beat up people, fetch quests, or chase quests with a few gems here and there. I also see how 3 and 6 are quite similar in plot although I also saw some 0 stuff in there. Was it bonkers? Absolutely.
Overall, I think 3 is a mediocre game. I liked Okinawa as a setting since it reminds me of Onomichi from 6 and I get what they were going for with making Kiryu a paternal figure. Plus the villains were fairly grounded. But in terms of content and combat, 0's rating system is still king. I don't know where I would personally rank 3 in the series but I don't think it would be in my top 3. One last thing I will say that I liked about 3 is I really liked how 3 doesn't pull any melodramatic punches with a deus ex machina boss. You fight Richardson a few times, then Mine and that's it. Mic drop, no BS speeches. The same can't be said for K1, K2 and the later games.
Last time I checked, I think I was at 47% by the end of the credits. I'm glad it's over all things considered. A good chunk of the trophies look extremely annoying to get and I would have to learn mahjong to put a dent in completing each series. I might just jump straight into 4 since the latter two games are alien to despite knowing the general plot. After that, I will probably take a break before jumping into 5.
I think it's one of my favorite because i did play it right after Yakuza 2 on PS2, and it was a big step improvement overall of the series. But the main thing i like about it is how challenging the game his. This is the hardest Yakuza game by far, i've read a lot yeah ennemies just block all the time, it's bad.... no you just didn't understand that side stepping and timing punch was the key to victory, Sure there are 1-2 hunt that feel REALLY cheap, but overall grabing was super useless and perfect to put down un ennemies then kick him. These VR combat was the most insane yakuza battle i've ever experience (way harder then Amon too).
Huzzah. One person that agrees with me on Yakuza 3 (though in addition to dodging, also counter moves are amazing in 3). I really don't see how its hard, or even fights being long (as tiger drops and evade > attack usually get the bosses put down in a swift time).
I miss 3's difficulty, 4 is such a huge step back, I really hate how mindless enemies are in random battles, you can use champion rings to push up the aggressiveness of enemies but this doesn't really give me the difficulty spike I wanted - as all it does it force enemies to all attack at once all the time.
I agree with the challenge even if I found it slightly grating. The difficulty is mitigated by getting most of the coin locker gear as soon as possible and Tiger Drop. Tiger Drop is harder to use when you're mobbed by a group and have a few stun gun peeps thrown into the mix. Add in a few goons that stun and it's a recipe for a fun time. I haven't finished the VR stuff.
But I was never once frustrated with how challenging combat was. It involved a bit more thinking but I liked it. I found throwing useful to do damage to groups but it did trip me up every now and then. There's ranking the series by challenge, story, and content. From a challenge standpoint, I enjoyed it way more than the last games I played.
You're posting in a Yakuza thread where a good chunk of people have played most if not every Yakuza game under the sun. The answer is going to be 1000% yes in every Yakuza thread including LTTP ones that pop up every week.
This is a huge reason why I don't have platinums in 0 and Kiwami. It's one thing to know there's a long time commitment, but the random nature of gambling games really feels like an immense pain in the ass if kiwami 2 was any indication.
I was mainly speaking for 3, as opposed to the whole series. The RNG became much more fair in later games, plus cheat items (though granted 0 lacked those) so it wasn't as bad as what I had happen to me a few times in 3. But Koi Koi definitely still has its quirks on the higher difficulties no matter which game you play! Mahjong also can be rather brutal regardless of the game, I remember 5 and Kiwami 2 especially pulling no punches when you headed over to Sotenbori to partake in some Mahjong (I prefer Kamurocho's Mahjong league anyway!)
Since when? Just lose the Pool match and you'll be done. Only time you need to do Pool is if you want to clear the game 100% trophy wise.
I did. But I did find the story to be a little convoluted at times.
And the hilarious thing is 0 is one of the most down to earth plots in the game. If you play from 3 up, strap yourself in for many a moment like that! (seriously, there's some pretty crazy twists in practically every game in the series)
So I'm in a similar position to you going into Y3 except I'm playing through Kiwami 2 now and I haven't played Y6 yet but I've played through Y0, Y1, Y2 and Kiwami and I did play a little bit of Y3 back when it launched here in the states for PS3 but I fell off of it pretty quickly. I'm fully expecting the transition from Kiwami 2 to Y3 to be a harsh one. Not just because of the visual fidelity differential or the return of frequent loading screens, but because of the feel of the game, the pacing of the game (which put me off of it originally) and the difficulty of the game.
Related to this the question often gets posed of "what is the best play order of this series?" which really boils down to "When should I play Yakuza 0?" The real answer is that you can kind of play Y0 whenever because at least narratively speaking that context isn't actually that important to have going into Y1/Kiwami so while most usually suggest starting with Y0 I had been suggesting starting with Y1/Kiwami, then Y0 & then the rest of the series. Even though I agree that Y0 has a better narrative and can act as a great introduction it then kind of sets up Kiwami for failure because even though Y1/Kiwami is a great game in its own right it's lesser in almost every regard when compared to the rest of the series. Having said that Kiwami is a pretty faithful remake of a game that was the original introduction of the Yakuza world back in the day and it still really works well as an introduction. Not to mention that Kiwami plays as well as Y0 and also playing Kiwami first gives you a taste of what to actually expect from Majima instead of what he is in Y0. Also from a narrative/tone standpoint going from Y0 to Kiwami 2 works well as the first cutscene in Kiwami 2 is in the 80s.
Getting to my point lately I've been thinking the best play order might actually be Kiwami, Kiwami 2, Yakuza 0 and then the rest of the series in chronological order. this thinking is largely coming from a gameplay perspective (which I think can be almost as important as narrative reasons) but tonally I think it works as well. Again, there's the 80s connection between Kiwami 2 & Y0, there's the Y0 side stories that feature the Dragon of Kansai, and from a visuals+gameplay perspective I think going from Kiwami to Kiwami 2 to Y0 and then Y3 will have WAY less of a whiplash effect on most players than going from Kiwami 2 to Y3. You'll still get some whiplash from the fact that Y0 is a much faster paced game than Y3 but I think it works.
Either start with 0, or do it after 5... Going from Kiwami 2 to 3 really isn't as bad as its made out to be. No matter which classic game you play after Kiwami 2, its going to be the same step down visually and mechanically and there's no way round that. But unless you happen to be playing Kiwami 2 on the PC you'll jump from 30FPS with Dragon Engine combat to 60FPS with older combat... which really isn't a negative as some people make it out to be, heck once Kiryu is powered up in 3 regardless of difficulty he's a better fighter than in Kiwami 2, no way around it - his Tiger Drop doesn't suck for starters, and bounding enemies off walls into further combos makes Kiryu massively powerful...
I finally got the hang of pool and beat all the expert matches. Once I learned to push the analog stick down with my index finger instead of pulling down with my thumb, my aim improved drastically. Actually had quite a lot of fun with the minigame once the ball went where I wanted it to. Still have to get that trophy for an ace break shot though.
Break Ace is one of those trophies like the 10 cat fight wins in 0 that I've never really been a fan of. Best thing to do is to play Solo Pool and keep trying. There's some Youtube vids showing decent positions for optimal positions to get break ace, but its still somewhat luck based. Nice one on nabbing the expert wins in 3, its not the most fun mini game I've played through but its darn satisfying in 3/4 when you do all the expert matches.
I finished Yakuza 3 over the weekend, and as someone who generally plays all these games on Normal, Y3 definitely feels like the hardest but not significantly so over most titles. The healing bosses in Kiwami 1, frankly, felt way worse. Weirdly, for at least a few lower-level fights (not trash mobs but not bosses), grabbing and throwing was a great way to break guards when evades wouldn't work. Later on I got Tiger Drop and Komaki Parry but found the timing on both to be very tough on bosses and even occasionally on grunts. I could never rely on them to get me through harder fights like others in this thread, though the parry feels like it has a much bigger window and so I did lean on that more.
It's interesting to see the older approach to handling lengthier side stories versus later games. I think it was a smart move to marry minigames to significant storylines (the cabaret clubs in Y0/Kiwami 2, Pocket Circuit Racing in Y0/Kiwami) and that did happen to an extent with the Hitman Missions here. But it was also neat to see a really meaty sidestory just on its own with the murder mystery at Cafe Alps, and I'm kind of sad I never finished that one in my PS3 playthrough.
I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to replay 4 anytime soon (maybe I'll save it for closer to Y7), and 5's definitely on the backburner for a bit because by the time I played it on PS3 I'd finally gotten into the habit of doing a significant portion of what the game had to offer, so it's not like there's a bunch of stuff to do that I missed out on the first time. (I'm not counting the weird snowball first-person shooter in Saejima's section because I think I might prefer stabbing a fork in my eye.)
It's interesting to see the older approach to handling lengthier side stories versus later games. I think it was a smart move to marry minigames to significant storylines (the cabaret clubs in Y0/Kiwami 2, Pocket Circuit Racing in Y0/Kiwami) and that did happen to an extent with the Hitman Missions here. But it was also neat to see a really meaty sidestory just on its own with the murder mystery at Cafe Alps, and I'm kind of sad I never finished that one in my PS3 playthrough.
I'm undecided as to whether I'm going to replay 4 anytime soon (maybe I'll save it for closer to Y7), and 5's definitely on the backburner for a bit because by the time I played it on PS3 I'd finally gotten into the habit of doing a significant portion of what the game had to offer, so it's not like there's a bunch of stuff to do that I missed out on the first time. (I'm not counting the weird snowball first-person shooter in Saejima's section because I think I might prefer stabbing a fork in my eye.)
Same here. I've lost a bit of interest in the game (same thing happened for me with Akiyama in 4 but I eventually got back to it) after Saejima's story was absolutely the most unfun thing I've played through in this franchise so far. I wasn't interested at all, it's a shallower repeat of his story in 4 with more boring fluff. The next section of the game hasn't been the most interesting either. Hoping to get through it and hoping that there's some more Kiryu stuff.
So I just beat 3, overall good game but the formula was wearing thin. Can see why 4-5 had more characters. But in the final scenes it was so stupid
And I know the plot twist is ruined because of later games
when 4 originally came out, was it known Kiryu would be in it pre release?
nevermind im an idiot who just finished credits lol
That Mine has that whole dialogue waiting to throw himself and Richardson off the building, would've worked if maybe he said his dialogue before and then tackled him off roof in one fluid motion.
And I know the plot twist is ruined because of later games
But the idea of Kiryu getting stabbed like that at the end is such a cop out. Who would believe that ending even in 2009? I'm guessing this is why he's not the first character you play as in 4.
when 4 originally came out, was it known Kiryu would be in it pre release?
nevermind im an idiot who just finished credits lol
Hostesses in Kamurocho cost sooooo much more than they did in Ryukyu an thats not even taking into account that theres twice as many! Still 3 (okay, 4 cause of the "secret" one) to go! Also amongst this I'd rediscovered how pricey getting Komaki training up & running again is, plus IF7 ontop of it. Whats a good get rich quick scam for Yakuza 3?
I finally finished Yakuza 3 last night and I can only imagine
I'm going to go back to 0 and try and finish that. Third time's the charm.
the reaction to Kiryu being stabbed. I know the guy's name was mentioned a couple of times throughout the game but did anyone else feel that the ending kinda came out of nowhere? I didn't recognise the two guys speaking to Kiryu (my fault since I forget if they were there earlier in 3, but I've also yet to finish Kiwami and have yet to buy Kiwami 2, but some random guy (I know he wasn't random but his whole thing was random to me) turning up to stab Kiryu... man that would have been frustrating to see back when the game first released.
I'm going to go back to 0 and try and finish that. Third time's the charm.
Just finished Yakuza Kiwami
Is there a funnier cut then the cut back to them in the ruins of Ares after a freaking bomb just exploded not ten feet from them? The room around them is charred and blacked for Christ sake. How the hell are they supposed to have survived that?
I really disagree with what you're saying here.
Kiwami and especially parts of Kiwami 2 make massive references to Yakuza 0. There is one scene especially in Kiwami 2 that had me in tears but would have had no impact without 0. They have been made with the intention of being played in sequential order for that reason. Kiwami feels like a decent expansion to 0 but its actually a bad place to start to get people into the series.
How are people saying Hamazki is just some random character in 3... that's not bad story telling on the games part but just the player absolutely paying no attention... aside from him being on of the big bads in the middle part of the game he gets some fantastic scenes (the whole restaurant shakedown scene is still one of the best in 3, in fact the exact word I'd use to describe that scene is "unforgettable"). Interestingly, in relation to (but no spoilers for) Yakuza 7, Hamazaki is supposed to have a gang in Yokohama... which makes me wonder how they played nice with the other 3 gangs in Ijincho... ah we will never know...
And thankfully Yakuza 4
And thankfully Yakuza 4
brings him back to give him a little more plot in Saejima's first chapters along with Kiryu's first chapter. Just hopefully you'll remember who he is by that point ;)
I'm starting 3 but wanted to refresh my memory on the story up until then. Do you guys have a recommended refresher article or video?
I played Yakuza 3 between August 2019 to February 2020. I forgot who he was and when I read the plot of the game (because it took me so long to finish), the wiki description was like "he's one of three people who did this. Then they said he was kidnapped" and he was gone until the ending.
And I can't recall a restaurant shakedown scene either, which yeah is my shit memory so I'll YouTube it now. Because of that he really felt random and out of place because you've just spend a bunch of time focusing on the actual big bads and then a guy in a trench coat rocks up and I was left scratching my head because I couldn't remember who he was.
edit: found it on YouTube. I remember that scene now. He looks completely different in the ending due to the trench coat and hat haha, but yeah I saw that scene months ago and it fell out of my mind.
And I can't recall a restaurant shakedown scene either, which yeah is my shit memory so I'll YouTube it now. Because of that he really felt random and out of place because you've just spend a bunch of time focusing on the actual big bads and then a guy in a trench coat rocks up and I was left scratching my head because I couldn't remember who he was.
edit: found it on YouTube. I remember that scene now. He looks completely different in the ending due to the trench coat and hat haha, but yeah I saw that scene months ago and it fell out of my mind.
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Just a heads up that this isn't something that only 3 does, it loves to bring back characters, especially in the tail ends of games. 6 especially is rather bad for this, much more so than any game before it.
Yes. Majima in 0 references Saejima briefly, and his whole predicament in 0 is due to events shown in 4's flashbacks. Saejima's plot in 4 is arguably the best bit, especially when it comes to overall game cannon.
I got use to the games doing a flashback image thing when a character shows up. I was waiting for one on that guy but it never came lol
Yes. Just keep in mind that you'll mostly want to mainline the story in Kiwami 1 as the side content is largely mediocre.
Since I'm playing through Kiwami 2 now I won't speak to the connections between it and Y0 so I'll take your word on that. As for Kiwami, the references to Y0 in that game are minimal, unimportant and kind of shoehorned into the game. Kiwami felt like a pretty straight remake of the original game just with some new side content (the most significant of which is the Pocket racers and the Majima Everywhere stuff) and the 3 fighting styles from Y0. I just think that if you want people to get through more than 1 entry in the series then Kiwami is the better start point than Y0.
I think Nishki and Kiryu's friendship in Y0 has more impact when you already know their fates (and Kiwami establishes that friendship pretty well on its own), Yumi basically doesn't exist in Y0 (I think there's an offhand comment about her but that's it) so if you go from Y0 to Kiwami Yumi will probably feel like this weird shoehorned in character, Kiwami sets a better tone for what to expect from Majima, for the 3 fighting styles in Kiwami that carried over from Y0 their unlock progression is much more straight forward and less time consuming than it is in Y0. Also, I think a big part of why so many people fall off of Kiwami after playing through Y0 is because Y0 is a big game (especially if you engage with a lot of the side content) so to go from that game to Kiwami which feels like more of Y0 which you just played and a lesser version of that game to boot I think results in people having a hard time getting through Kiwami. On its own Kiwami is a solid game with a good story and if you mainline it you can get through it quickly and then I think the narrative and side content in Y0 is that much stronger that people will have no problem then getting through Y0.
So basically, Kiwami sets the tone for the world, then Y0 goes back in time to expand on that and ratchet things up in terms of what to expect from the series and then based on your comments about Kiwami 2 it seems like Y0 would act as a great lead in to Kiwami 2 and also Kiwami 2 has that great recap of the events of Kiwami near the start of the games so you can refresh yourself in case you forgot anything. No matter the play order I have to suggest mainling Kiwami as I think people get bogged down by that game's largely mediocre side content and don't worry about progressing the Dragon of Dojima style as it's fine but the other 3 styles are all better and while the encounters with Majima generally are fun they're also kind of annoying at the same so maybe avoid him whenever possible.