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Yakuza 6: the song of Life is an incredible game
- Thread starter Tailzo
- Start date
I'm with you OP.
In fact, Yakuza 6 is my 2018 GOTY and my favourite Yakuza of the series as well.
It's one of those games that can fail to connect with the western audience sometimes, because of some cultural differences, like the reason
But I really love Yakuza 6, and I would change absolutely nothing about it storywise.
EDIT: Wow I'm stunned by the positive feedback here <3
In fact, Yakuza 6 is my 2018 GOTY and my favourite Yakuza of the series as well.
It's one of those games that can fail to connect with the western audience sometimes, because of some cultural differences, like the reason
Kiryu left without saying he's alive, or the reasons Haruka left in the beginning like that.
But I really love Yakuza 6, and I would change absolutely nothing about it storywise.
EDIT: Wow I'm stunned by the positive feedback here <3
Totally agree with your points regarding Haruka in 5. I feel that if you look at both her and Kiryu's actions in 5 it makes a couple of parts of 6 just make that little more sense so that it sells their actions more. Its definitely a game I've appreciated more and more when thinking back to it, it really was a nice way to finish up the series in almost every way. And now with 7 fast approaching, I look forward to diving into a brand new game with a new protagonist, gameplay etc. Makes me excited to see where the series will go post 6.
If Majima is used in another prequel, he's gotta be himself - as in he's gotta be crazy. Not watered down like in 0. I want him like in Dead Souls, or don't bother using him at all
But... that's who Majima really ''is''.
Majima's mad dog persona is just a facade he puts on just to be more in touch with himself as a person. This was pretty well established by 0 and expanded upon on Kiwami 2.
There are certain moments in Kiwami 2 that he brakes out of that character and shows his true self for a little bit. His encounter with Makoto would be one and another is the final fight with Iibuchi.
When he rushes him for the first time and the camera does a close up of the icy glower on his face. Reminding us the audience that mad dog of shimano is just an act and in that short moment we got another glimpe at the real Majima.
Really, really well done.
There are certain moments in Kiwami 2 that he brakes out of that character and shows his true self for a little bit. His encounter with Makoto would be one and another is the final fight with Iibuchi.
When he rushes him for the first time and the camera does a close up of the icy glower on his face. Reminding us the audience that mad dog of shimano is just an act and in that short moment we got another glimpe at the real Majima.
Really, really well done.
Yakuza 6 is the new Yakuza 3. Each have the best "side" towns, each have some focus on Kiryu doing dad stuff, an they both gots ya teaming up with the lovable local gang. After playing 0 & Kiwami I felt 6 was an enormous step up in every aspect, including not being a ginormous timesink. Really amazing game ta end the Kiryu/Haruka saga.
I really loved Yakuza 6 and I think it has beaten out 2 and 0 as my favorite in the series. Seeing Kitano in a Yakuza game was really great. In general I just really loved the small town and all the characters in Yakuza 6. This game was really just a joy to play.
If you critical path them, most Yakuza games are about 10hrs on average so doesn't sound too insane to me. I do agree that a lot of the side stuff is definitely worth doing though. I personally do all of the side stuff when it becomes available.
Yakuza 6 is pretty great and has the easiest platinum out of the Yakuza series hands down. Not my favorite(would put 0 ,Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 ahead of it), but that ending did get to me though for sure.
I'm glad it's over.
I get that there are people who like the Yakuza series, but I had more than enough with 0, Kiwami, and 6. Having a lot of minigames (and outrageous heat moves) is cool, I suppose, but the core gameplay loop is really bland and the glamorization of murderers and other criminals is really off-putting.
Kiwami was kind of okay on that last point, as Kiryu was a "good" Yakuza up against all the rest, but by 6, not only were generic street hoodlums portrayed as heroic, but also
Not to mention the ridiculous orphanage intro/outro.
Why should I cheer on any of these scum?
I get that there are people who like the Yakuza series, but I had more than enough with 0, Kiwami, and 6. Having a lot of minigames (and outrageous heat moves) is cool, I suppose, but the core gameplay loop is really bland and the glamorization of murderers and other criminals is really off-putting.
Kiwami was kind of okay on that last point, as Kiryu was a "good" Yakuza up against all the rest, but by 6, not only were generic street hoodlums portrayed as heroic, but also
the assassin who murdered their innocent parents in cold blood.
Why should I cheer on any of these scum?
I think some moments here and there where "it" slips is fine. Dead Souls had something like this and it pretty much had full mad dog Majima.
They should do that but in a canon Yakuza.
That's fine and all but I was more saying that to a response that he's somehow watered down in 0 when it's quite the opposite.
Y0 Majima has some of the best character development in the series. He's by no way a slouch.
All the twists at the end got me. There was a point when I just couldn't keep up and I was playing with this stupid grin on my face lol
As for side stuff, I liked the quests with the ghosts. I don't know about you people but I got scared a bit. In a Yakuza game.
As for side stuff, I liked the quests with the ghosts. I don't know about you people but I got scared a bit. In a Yakuza game.
Oh yeah I agree on that. It was always jarring to see Majima in 1 and 2 compared to Majima in 4 and 5. Yakuza 0 bridged the two perfectly.
I think Kiryu is the reason for why "it" slips in the later games. Like a certain character says in Yakuza 3, Kiryu changes people into the better by just being around them.
As far as Mad Dog Majima goes, I hope they make a 0-2 in the future. Bring back the four styles action brawler system and have it be about Majima after he became the "Mad Dog" and show us what he does while Kiryu is in prison. Yakuza 5 hinted at some of the things he did but I would like a game about these times. Along with another character of course.
Kiwami 2 had one and I found that to be quite freaky. I love these side stories.
Playing the game something worried me.
They would chicken out and make Haruto someone else's kid that Haruka had adopted, like Kiryu adopted her and then try to make that a twist reveal, precisely because people get weird about a character's 'purity' being sullied. I was so glad that they never went down that road. Of course the twist about Haruto's parentage not being Rando NPC Dude and instead being Handsome McSexyface was obvious from the second you found out he and the family knew Haruka.
Yup. Dead Souls did it right. 0 Majima was a cool character, but I personally don't buy the whole "its a facade" excuse when the actual writers and Nagoshi admitted in interviews that they only changed his personality in 0 because they didn't think audiences would want a murderer as a playable character. So yeah, gimme cannon Mad Dog Majima, not Mopey Pup Majima in the next game please!
Not reading too much in this thread but a question: I finished Zero and Kiwami 1
I am currently in chapter 13 of Kiwami2
I would love to see the conclusion of the story in part6 but in order for it to be emotional enough I guess I have to play Parts 3-5 prior to that (which is a daunting task...)?
I am currently in chapter 13 of Kiwami2
I would love to see the conclusion of the story in part6 but in order for it to be emotional enough I guess I have to play Parts 3-5 prior to that (which is a daunting task...)?
You can skip 4 if you just want to see Kiryu's story.
Although Yakuza 5 has some returning characters from 4 and they are much better if you already know them.
It really is great. It has some of the best characters in gaming, let alone just the Yakuza series.
I'm playing through Yakuza 6 right now and loving it. I'm in Chapter 7, and if it continues being as awesome as it has been, it will end up on my top 3 Yakuza game list. Which would make the top 3 list look like:
1. Kiwami 2
2. Yakuza 6
3. Yakuza 0
1. Kiwami 2
2. Yakuza 6
3. Yakuza 0
Thanks. What would be your personal order of the games? I assume 3-5 are rather at the lower rating end?
I don't think this will ever happen and it's far enough away from the kinds of stories the Ryu Ga Gotoku team tell that it's not even clear to me if they would do a good job with it or not, but
it would be interesting to see a Yakuza spinoff one day where decades later, someone either tells Haruka or she discovers on her own that Kiryu actually didn't die that day, and tries to find out whether it's actually true or not and what happened to him.
OP
OP
Most Yakuza games are awesome. Dead Souls is the one with worst gameplay, but even that one has wacky storylines to smile about :)
I will always shill for Yakuza 3. It is a bit outdated right now and the combat is a bit annoying but you get to see Kiryu as a father and that's the best part. It also has Okinawa which is one of the coolest locations in the game. It is a bit slow in terms of pacing and the sub stories aren't all that good compared to the latter games. The fan base is split on it.
4 is great and has a lot of cool aditions. The biggest one is the multiple protagonist where you have three more protagonists in addition to Kiryu. Akiyama a loanshark who has a similiar fighting style to breakdancing majima and rush Kiryu (as in they feel similiar but a bit more powerful). Saejima is like a faster Beast Kiryu and has a really powerful feeling gameplay. Tanimura feels pretty unique and has a parrying type of combat. The game is also only set in Kamurocho (though an expanded version of it). It is a really good game with great bosses but where it fails is the story. It started pretty awesome but in the end they had tons of bad twists which made it much less interesting and good. That said, it has some of the coolest cutscenes in the series. Also has Hana chan who should have been in every Yakuza since.
5 is like the "GTA San Andreas" of the series. You get five cities, five playable characters and four different sub activity in similiar quality to Yakuza 0 cabaret or city takeover. Kiryu gets Taxi driving which includes three different type of mission like racing, conversations, and driving while following the law. Saejima gets a hunting activity that is very deep and interesting. Haruka (yeah she is playable now) has a whole new gameplay which is basically a Hatsune Miku type of game where you have dance battles and singing mini games and the whole thing about her chapters is that she is an idol and gets lots of mini games like handshaking events. Akiyama returns and shares the same chapter as Haruka, which is great if you are like me and don't really feel like wanting to play as an Idol in a Yakuza game. Then there is whole new character called Nishida who is a civilian and has lots of mini games dedicated to baseball as he was a former baseball player. Nishida is interesting as he is basically "the struggle is real" Yakuza version.
Now you might be wondering, an Idol and a baseball player. What??? Well that's the biggest issue with Yakuza 5. It has a lot of shit in it which makes it into the longest and the most bloated Yakuza and they try to tie all that together at the end of the game but it ends up being done in a not satisfying way. I do still like it but that's because I consider each character to have their own story instead of looking at the overall picture and each character have their own cool story before it all gets connected. Not to mention 5 is the most fun game in the series because it has lots to do and lots of mini games '(a lot of the ones from Yakuza 0 are here as well aside from the telephone clubs or the 80's type of mini games like the cat girl fighting club or slot car racing) you also get a druming arcade game and Virtua Fighter 2. The sub stories in this one are quality and very similiar to Yakuza 0. It is by far the most fun game to play if you want to dig into the side content.
I recommend every game in the series but If you do end up trying to play them, do not hesitate to take breaks (especially for Yakuza 5) as you can burn out pretty fast.
It's in the top 5 of the series to me. The gameplay could have been better, but as a first outing for the dragon engine, it was fine. As for the highlights, the story was very emotional, and I appreciated how all of the substories were voiced for a change. As a fan of the sport, I also especially loved the baseball manager side story, and all the other interactions with the people of Onomichi were great as well. Ono Michio will forever be a legend.
One other thing that has become apparent to me though, is that I'm really going to miss Kiryu. He was such a great protagonist, and honestly the new guy, Ichiban, comes off as a dumbass to me, in addition to not caring for the new combat style. Kiryu was just the perfect blend of coolness and naivety, which is hard to match.
One other thing that has become apparent to me though, is that I'm really going to miss Kiryu. He was such a great protagonist, and honestly the new guy, Ichiban, comes off as a dumbass to me, in addition to not caring for the new combat style. Kiryu was just the perfect blend of coolness and naivety, which is hard to match.
Okay FINE. I just ordered Yakuza 0 off of Amazon. Certainly not jumping into 6 off the bat.
Never played a Yakuza game, but almost everything I've read about these games has been critical acclaim or at least positive. I already have Kiwami downloaded from PS+ so if 0 turns out well, we're all queued up.
FYI I know nothing about the story or even core gameplay of this series. I can name every game, when/where it came out, but I don't recall ever seeing a second of gameplay.
Never played a Yakuza game, but almost everything I've read about these games has been critical acclaim or at least positive. I already have Kiwami downloaded from PS+ so if 0 turns out well, we're all queued up.
FYI I know nothing about the story or even core gameplay of this series. I can name every game, when/where it came out, but I don't recall ever seeing a second of gameplay.
More like highest rated end... Honestly if 4 didn't have some back end plot issues and had a little more meat to certain chapters it'd basically be perfect, its just you can definitely see they were a bit stretched for time with the whole 4 character thing, but the amount of meaningful side content for each character really helps fill in the gaps for the main plot. Its one of the best in the series no doubt, especially thanks to introducing Akiyama and Hana. Possibly the best final boss themes as well, all of them use a similar theme and its so damn good.
3 is probably the jankiest of the games due to age, and graphically its certainly the worst of the bunch as it was the first full 3D camera Kamurocho the devs created, so that's rough round the edges. But Okinawa is a delightful local (classic blue Sega skies) and if you like the slower slice of life beginning, its some of the best character development Kiryu gets in the entire series. I happen to really like the orphans, so I really like this game. I also like several of the other main players in this game, so I really like the boss fights in the game especially since they are all accompanied by the best soundtrack in the entire series. The plot is silly though, especially after the 2/3 mark of the game. The game has some great long fights, the final long fight especially is one of my favourites in the series as it basically is just one large toybox to use every move, heat move, Komaki counter and weapons you've acquired and crafted along the way. Likewise 4 and 5 have similar Kiryu long fights like this just not quite as epic. 3 also somewhat suffers slightly on side content as they were still finding their feat in that regard, some of the most popular mini games (Karaoke) were introduced in this game, so they are slightly less good than later entries (less songs, songs that aren't quite as good etc.) but the side stories have a few standout excellent ones - one goes back to the very first tutorial fight in the first game! One is basically proto Judge Eyes/Phoenix Wright, another is about wise Tuna investigate, incest, how to make the perfect store brought Ramen, mysteries of Okinawa and of course that cheeky assassin that just won't quit.
5 is the best game in the series for me in terms of gameplay. Best Kiryu in terms of moves list (they add some really great heat moves in this one that don't get reused), lots of playable characters, great side characters (Shinada's story is just a delight) and the bigger side content is well executed - imagine an Initial D/Daytona-ish plot around a gang of racers, hunting a man eating bear (with some great side character twists) etc. its surprisingly deep and I still prefer both to what 0 had to offer. Plus 5 unique cities and tons of other smaller mini games to complete (chicken breading/racing, snowball fights, Ramen shop employee, Virtua Fighter 2 AND Taiko Drum Master as well as many returning mini games). Only thing that you really see as an issue with 5 more than any other game is pacing at points. Saejima's is really wonky in many points and Akiyama really does get the short end of the stick in terms of content (he has the least, which can be a problem if you want to level him up for the arena/completion requirements). And speaking of which, the Arena has simultaneously some of its best and worst ideas in this game - on the good end you have Victory Road which is a sprawling side story that has all 4 main male characters (no fighting for Haruka, she gets a cool Dance off side quest chain instead) competing to qualify in the VR tournament - you'll meet old and new friends here as each character fights a set number of characters before qualifying. Once qualified you unlock a special arena tournament which again, rocks. But the arena also has more grinding than usual required as you gotta unlock all tournaments for all 4 characters individually, which sucks especially as Shinada and Akiyama's fighting styles aren't really designed for these fights (Kiryu and Saejima are hilariously overpowered for this bit though if you've limit broken them.
The game took me 152 hours just recently on a replay to 100%, and aside from some arena grind I loved every minute of it. Its doubtful we'll ever get a Yakuza game this big and varied again, though 7 sure looks like its going to try!
Just got around to this finally after playing through the rest of the series and fucking shit what a journey.
I loved Yakuza 6 the most, a game with a big ol' heart. It's such a beautiful story and conclusion to Kiryu's story, very bittersweet, but very touching and well capped IMO. I loved Onomichi to death, the entire supporting cast there was the bomb. Everyone at the bar, everyone on my baseball team, fuck I loved it so much.
I love this game. I love it. Such a fitting subtitle too. I'll blindly buy anything RGG wants to put out here at this point (currently playing through Judgment and loving it).
I loved Yakuza 6 the most, a game with a big ol' heart. It's such a beautiful story and conclusion to Kiryu's story, very bittersweet, but very touching and well capped IMO. I loved Onomichi to death, the entire supporting cast there was the bomb. Everyone at the bar, everyone on my baseball team, fuck I loved it so much.
I love this game. I love it. Such a fitting subtitle too. I'll blindly buy anything RGG wants to put out here at this point (currently playing through Judgment and loving it).
Yakuza 6 is brilliant. It has some seriously cool missions like the Hotel Raid and some of the best sidequests in the form of the Hiroshima bar. Both the baseball and the deep sea shooter were excellent minigames I fully completed.
What I like about 6 is how they kind of trimmed the fat. Its probably the least meaty Yakuza in recent times but whats available is all very good and well realized. I greatly prefered it over Kiwami 2, besides the story perhaps (still very good but 2 is my number one).
What I like about 6 is how they kind of trimmed the fat. Its probably the least meaty Yakuza in recent times but whats available is all very good and well realized. I greatly prefered it over Kiwami 2, besides the story perhaps (still very good but 2 is my number one).
Man thanks a lot guys! Loved reading both of your detailed notes. As much as I love the games so far (Kiwami 1 was just ok though) my main challenge with the games is that I cannot get into the fighting system at all. I recently switched with Kiwami 2 even to easy mode (the others I finished on normal).
As much as I want to experience the entire story in all games, part me feels that I will also torture myself to get there. I guess the main issue is always the same for me: there is no proper auto lock on enemies and instead I have to hold R1 which doesn't work for me and I always end up in frustrating situations where especially bosses hit me several times. Anyway thanks for the notes and I think if I continue after Kiwami 2 (with some break) I may consider continuing with part 3.
Yakuza always shows me things i never knew i wanted. That bar game is good for your soul.
i felt the heavy VA was wasted. Kiryu doesn't need to voice every throwaway line in the world. It was just groaning most of time when you're out in the world doing sidequests, lol. Nobody got time for voices for every dialogue. It's fast reading+skip.
Beat Takeshi, it actually happened.
i felt the heavy VA was wasted. Kiryu doesn't need to voice every throwaway line in the world. It was just groaning most of time when you're out in the world doing sidequests, lol. Nobody got time for voices for every dialogue. It's fast reading+skip.
Beat Takeshi, it actually happened.
I think there is/was a vocal minority that wanted everything in the game voiced. Its a complaint I rarely see around, I agree with you though, I'm good with just having text boxes. I read faster than they talk and it only serves to inflate the budget with more voice work that could instead be spent on more side stories instead - 6 had some amazing side stories, just not enough of them!
OP
OP
I'm interested to hear how you'll react to Yakuza 0. Do you like action rpgs? Do you like Japan, or japanese dramas?
I still haven't played Judgement. It sounds cool, but seeing how rare pure gaming weekends are for me, I am in no rush to buy it. By the time I am able to fully devote a weekend to it, it will be quite cheap I think.
I liked the Clan Creator. Everytime I was hungry, I would play Clan Creator and eat pizza while sometimes pressing buttons and get loads of xp for easy battles :)
That's something I haven't even been thinking about. I mean, I do remember that Yakuza games had some parts with text only, but I never even thought about Yakuza 6 being fully voiced. And I agree it do not need that.
Yeah, although I think Yakuza 6 has a ton of content.
Every sidequests being voice acted also meant that the sidequests had way less dialogue than in previous games. Compare the sidequests to the VA-less Yakuza sidequests in 0 or any previous game and there is like half the text to them. It made the substories way less funny and charming than previous games. One of my big gripes with 6.
Oh for sure, I suppose its just that coming off of 0 and 5 (and even Ishin) it has less content compared to those games, yet still a ton of content in its own right. For what its worth I really loved the new mini games introduced in 6, especially the fishing, snack bar and improved arcade.
I enjoy action RPGs very much. As an aside, I was thinking about Sleeping Dogs and how that game is criminally underrated. It has fun hand-to-hand combat, so I expect Yakuza has that covered.
Persona 4 & 5 are some of my favourite games of all time, so the Japanese setting excites me too.
Now, I went to a local pawn shop and found a copy of Yakuza - Dead Souls. I did enough research to know this game is poorly received, and doesn't reflect the rest of the series, but I'm having a blast playing it! Just got control of Majima, and it's a solid 7/10 so far. I feel starting with the only game that won't be on PS4 (and isn't canon) sort of makes sense? I'm a fan of playing weird spin-offs and ports/demasters, so this kind of game fits the bill and I would have played it at some point anyway.
I look forward to getting into the series when my copy of Yakuza 0 gets here. I'm hoping it has enough quirkiness I love from Japanese games mixed with a relatively serious story that connects across seven games.
Dead Souls is a very flawed but fun (IMO) game. If you like the side stuff in this one then you will love the main series.
The combat of Yakuza is more like a 3D Streets of Rage/Final Fight game and that's the best part about it. It is less "Arkham" and more like a dodge to avoid hits and do a combo type of gameplay, along with the heat moves that feel pretty good to do.
Zero is a great introduction as it shows you Yakuza at it's peak and has a very deep combat (and mini games), along with great side stories. The story in Yakuza 0 is one of the best in the series and I am sure you will love it.
The Yakuza Kiwami 2 end credits are rolling as I am typing this. I liked this one much more than the precious game but Zero stands tall over part 2 as well. Where the game lost me a bit were some of the complete bonkers scenes towards the end. I understand that Ryu is basically Batman or a god but common... some of these sequences in the end were just plain dumb. Also the overwritten ending revelations were way too much and I would preferred a more simple path with just Riuji alone. He was by the way also what kept for me the story interesting and I would have wished for a different ending in that regard.
In any case: I will play the the rest of the games as well now, to one day reach part 6. But for now I will take a Yakuza break.
In any case: I will play the the rest of the games as well now, to one day reach part 6. But for now I will take a Yakuza break.
Sadly the story is a bit hit and miss in the next games considering what you said. They have stupidity due to twists and all that but their stories are really entertaining still due to the great acting and cutscenes/bosses. Especially 5 and 4 (4 would have been great if not for one stupid twist).
6 was something else though. Really amazing story.