RNG

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,004
Man these Kiwami 2 physics can sometimes be comically hilarious and make no sense. Bodies just bouncing around on trampolines and moving like jello.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
Yeah. Gotta love them ragdoll physics. Its hilariously inaccurate at points but so damn funny. I really don't have anything against them like I know some do. 7 of course can take it one step further when you knock them into oncoming traffic which always cracks me up. Still wish Kiryu's fighting style in 2 was fashioned closer to his original fighting style and not just an expansion of 6's... just feels a bit weird (well that and his Tiger Drop sucks now. The nerve!)
 

thezboson

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,251
So, a few weeks ago I remembered that Yakuza Kiwami was included in PS+ and I ended up installing it.

I am not a huge fan of Shenmue, recently went through the two first ones, but this is clearly built on Shenmue DNA in the best way possible.

Also, I love the story. Both the serious aspects and the more silly stuff.

The fighting feels really weird though, especially when fighting enemies with weapons. Should I be using weapons myself in those fights?

Anyway, how are the sequels? Is the story as good as in the first one?
 

mudai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,356
So, a few weeks ago I remembered that Yakuza Kiwami was included in PS+ and I ended up installing it.

I am not a huge fan of Shenmue, recently went through the two first ones, but this is clearly built on Shenmue DNA in the best way possible.

Also, I love the story. Both the serious aspects and the more silly stuff.

The fighting feels really weird though, especially when fighting enemies with weapons. Should I be using weapons myself in those fights?

Anyway, how are the sequels? Is the story as good as in the first one?

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, especially since Kiwami is "just" a remake of the very first Yakuza game and thus misses a lot of the amazing stuff the other games had (minigames, side stories -- especially the side stories -- etc.) If you like the story in the first game you will love the story in the other games for sure. They all feature great storylines, but many consider the plot of 0 and 2 to be generally the best.
 

thezboson

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,251
Glad to hear you're enjoying it, especially since Kiwami is "just" a remake of the very first Yakuza game and thus misses a lot of the amazing stuff the other games had (minigames, side stories -- especially the side stories -- etc.) If you like the story in the first game you will love the story in the other games for sure. They all feature great storylines, but many consider the plot of 0 and 2 to be generally the best.
So it gets even better, I suspected as much. I am going to get addicted to this series. xD
 

Patitoloco

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
23,714
Hi, I never posted here (I think?). Just asking for some opinions to the forum experts!

I really love the Yakuza games I've played (0, Kiwami 1, Kiwami 2, OG 1, all fantastic).
I'm going through the HD Collection, I finished Yakuza 3 (I would have like it way more if the combat wasn't just awful, but I liked the story) and Yakuza 4 (which I liked way more gameplay wise, but the story is... iffy), and currently going through Yakuza 5. And for all the praise, people labeling it as the better Yakuza game even, I'm really hating it. I feel it's way too bloated, way too slow (the Saejima part is just dreadful, you fight a bear cool, but the rest....) and thinking I might have like 30 hours left still is ufffffffffff

I'm at the last chapter of Saejima. Everywhere I look says it's the lowest part of the game, but the Kiryu part wasn't golden either, soooooo how's the rest? This is the first one I've truly been thinking of just skipping, checking a summary and going to 6.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
Kiryu's section rocks. So if you didn't like that...

And 6 isn't better than 5 gameplay wise. Story wise it smashes 5 to pieces but its got way worse combat and content so it seems silly to skip it for an inferior game.

Then again I love Saejima's section so...
 

mudai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,356
The section after Saejima's is Haruka's and it's... well some like it (I love it!) and some hate it. Depends on if you want to learn more about the dark stuff in the idol industry and do dance battles I guess.
 
Last edited:

RNG

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,004
Yeah. Gotta love them ragdoll physics. Its hilariously inaccurate at points but so damn funny. I really don't have anything against them like I know some do. 7 of course can take it one step further when you knock them into oncoming traffic which always cracks me up. Still wish Kiryu's fighting style in 2 was fashioned closer to his original fighting style and not just an expansion of 6's... just feels a bit weird (well that and his Tiger Drop sucks now. The nerve!)
Yeah that's too bad. At least the Superman punch feels satisfying to do 😁 .
 

ValKiryuSonicEX

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,269
Yeah, info on Yakuza back then (especially since ThePatrick stopped doing his awesome guides at Yakuza 4) was pretty sparse. I managed ok through most of the game only getting tripped up with some of the betrayals at certain points (and Shinada's chapter, which was delightfully crazy). I managed to make sense of it all in the end and at least now I manage way better with import games thanks to a better understanding.

ThePatrick's guides were invaluable during that time, going through 5 was a bit of hassle but thanks to a site at time, I was able to pick and understand a few things.

I still should get more serious with learning Japanese, it would probably help with a few untranslated titles.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
ThePatrick's guides were invaluable during that time, going through 5 was a bit of hassle but thanks to a site at time, I was able to pick and understand a few things.

I still should get more serious with learning Japanese, it would probably help with a few untranslated titles.
The guides are still super useful for 1, 2 and Kenzan since there's so much that can be missed. I kept his guide around for Kenzan and it was invaluable in meeting Amon. Really miss him, but from what I remember he was pretty burned out on the series way before Ishin was released which is a pity :( Then again spending that much time to literally translate each line of dialogue must really take the fun out of the games!
 
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
Hi, I never posted here (I think?). Just asking for some opinions to the forum experts!

I really love the Yakuza games I've played (0, Kiwami 1, Kiwami 2, OG 1, all fantastic).
I'm going through the HD Collection, I finished Yakuza 3 (I would have like it way more if the combat wasn't just awful, but I liked the story) and Yakuza 4 (which I liked way more gameplay wise, but the story is... iffy), and currently going through Yakuza 5. And for all the praise, people labeling it as the better Yakuza game even, I'm really hating it. I feel it's way too bloated, way too slow (the Saejima part is just dreadful, you fight a bear cool, but the rest....) and thinking I might have like 30 hours left still is ufffffffffff

I'm at the last chapter of Saejima. Everywhere I look says it's the lowest part of the game, but the Kiryu part wasn't golden either, soooooo how's the rest? This is the first one I've truly been thinking of just skipping, checking a summary and going to 6.
Storywise, Shinada's chapter was really cool. It feels really disconnected to the rest of the story and I love that about it. His gameplay is a bit worse then the others due to him being more weapons focused but there is fun to be had.

The story itself is honestly even worse on a replay. What saves it is the bossfights and some of the scenes being badass but it is really souring me on the game this time.

Best part of the game is the gameplay. The game is really fun to mess around in. The character side stories (Hunting, Taxi, Baseball, Haruka's idol road) and the mini games and sub stories are the best part of the game.

So yeah, if you are not enjoying the game then I say just skip it. Watch the final cutscenes on youtube and go over to 6 cause at the end of the day, 6 is mostly self contained and you only need to know what Haruka and Kiryu did in 5 to understand everything. The story in 5 is better than Yakuza 4 cause it doesn't have the bad twists but it really drags and the amount of "dreams this" "dreams that" "my dreams!" being said over and over gets really annoying and boring.

What saves the game for me is the excellent gameplay and everything else apart from the story.
 

Patitoloco

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
23,714
Kiryu's section rocks. So if you didn't like that...

And 6 isn't better than 5 gameplay wise. Story wise it smashes 5 to pieces but its got way worse combat and content so it seems silly to skip it for an inferior game.

Then again I love Saejima's section so...
The section after Saejima's is Haruka's and it's... well some like it (I love it!) and some hate it. Depends on if you want to learn more about the dark stuff in the idol industry and do dance battles I guess.
Storywise, Shinada's chapter was really cool. It feels really disconnected to the rest of the story and I love that about it. His gameplay is a bit worse then the others due to him being more weapons focused but there is fun to be had.

The story itself is honestly even worse on a replay. What saves it is the bossfights and some of the scenes being badass but it is really souring me on the game this time.

Best part of the game is the gameplay. The game is really fun to mess around in. The character side stories (Hunting, Taxi, Baseball, Haruka's idol road) and the mini games and sub stories are the best part of the game.

So yeah, if you are not enjoying the game then I say just skip it. Watch the final cutscenes on youtube and go over to 6 cause at the end of the day, 6 is mostly self contained and you only need to know what Haruka and Kiryu did in 5 to understand everything. The story in 5 is better than Yakuza 4 cause it doesn't have the bad twists but it really drags and the amount of "dreams this" "dreams that" "my dreams!" being said over and over gets really annoying and boring.

What saves the game for me is the excellent gameplay and everything else apart from the story.
Thank you for your responses!

There are a couple of points to point out, though:
- I played a little bit of Yakuza 6 (the first chapter or so, maybe it was the demo) and Kiwami 2, so while I've seen that people don't like the Dragon Engine's combat, I find it really really fun.
- I think my biggest problem with Yakuza 5 is the bloat of it, not so much the combat which is okay. I think it's problematic if I find the story even slower than it should in a Yakuza game (which already are super slow burners). I had problems with the multiple protagonists idea of Yakuza 4, but this seems to take it even further. It's not a matter of losing Kiryu or not, it's a matter of spreading so thin for each character that there's barely anything there at the end IMO.

So, at the moment, I'm leaning more into skipping 5 and just going to 6 and then Judgement. But who knows, I'm definitely somewhat close to the beginning of the middle of the game, so I know it's a little bit unfair to talk much about the story.

At any case, thank you again guys :)
 

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
24,112
So, a few weeks ago I remembered that Yakuza Kiwami was included in PS+ and I ended up installing it.

I am not a huge fan of Shenmue, recently went through the two first ones, but this is clearly built on Shenmue DNA in the best way possible.

Also, I love the story. Both the serious aspects and the more silly stuff.

The fighting feels really weird though, especially when fighting enemies with weapons. Should I be using weapons myself in those fights?

Anyway, how are the sequels? Is the story as good as in the first one?

IMO kiwami is just the start, the games with better storylines and better side content come later in the series (personally it's Yakuza 0, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 5) so get those 3 if you can but if can afford it, get them all! although each is semi-independent, there are hooks in each game that push you to play the next installment. I didn't like 6 all that much and I never got around to playing judgment, might get that and 7 later this year but thezboson if you liked the story of the first one, the series is definitely worth checking out

edit: I made it sound like Yakuza 0 comes AFTER Kiwami, actually 0 is the chronological first game in the series although it came out way later
 

thezboson

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,251
IMO kiwami is just the start, the games with better storylines and better side content come later in the series (personally it's Yakuza 0, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 5) so get those 3 if you can but if can afford it, get them all! although each is semi-independent, there are hooks in each game that push you to play the next installment. I didn't like 6 all that much and I never got around to playing judgment, might get that and 7 later this year but thezboson if you liked the story of the first one, the series is definitely worth checking out

edit: I made it sound like Yakuza 0 comes AFTER Kiwami, actually 0 is the chronological first game in the series although it came out way later
Awesome! I'll pick up as many as I can on sales I think.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
6's combat sure seems fun in the beginning until you realise just how much of it was gutted (Kiwami 2 is a bad example as they added quite a bit over 6 to make it feel more complete, yet still very much lacking compared to how amazing Kiryu is in 5). So yeah, I can't possibly agree that 5 should be skipped for 6. You'll miss out on certain set pieces and bosses which are among the best in the series. Also, unlike 4, 5 doesn't spread things thin, its pretty much the opposite - only issue I had with it was bringing it together in the end, its not done in the cleanest fashion, took me 3 playthroughs to fully grasp certain plot points.

IMO kiwami is just the start, the games with better storylines and better side content come later in the series (personally it's Yakuza 0, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 5) so get those 3 if you can but if can afford it, get them all! although each is semi-independent, there are hooks in each game that push you to play the next installment. I didn't like 6 all that much and I never got around to playing judgment, might get that and 7 later this year but thezboson if you liked the story of the first one, the series is definitely worth checking out

edit: I made it sound like Yakuza 0 comes AFTER Kiwami, actually 0 is the chronological first game in the series although it came out way later
Kiwami 2's side content is somewhat lacking in retrospect. Its just a bit of 6's, a bit of 0's, and Virtual On in the arcades. Its nice that they added back stuff that 6 cut but Judge Eyes did so much more in that regard (especially with its amazing arcade). 6 was better for side content over Kiwami 2 - better arcade, better new mini games (several of which are only used in that game) and for the most part, I'd say better side stories as well (better written, but fewer).
Kiwami 2 did have an amazing arena though, that's one thing I can't ignore - its the most fun I had in the arena since Yakuza 5 back in 2012 (and even that fun was sullied somewhat due to the grind for the 100% completion).

In terms of best content - 5 wins by a country mile. Taiko in the arcades with lots of different UFO catchers (with more Sega toys, which bizarrely is never done again), Taxi driving for Kiryu, hunting for Saejima, fleshed out Baseball for Shinaga plus 5 beautiful cities each with their own unique stuff to do, many of which are not reused in future games. Its pretty impressive to think that this was a PS3 game with all that content squeezed into it...

0 obviously has a lot of great content, and while I prefer 5's variety its also insanely well done (with some nice mini games to suit the time period). Only thing that sullies 0 is that damned JCC mini game, that can fuck right off.

6/Judge Eyes would be my other pick, just for the arcade. JE especially has the crane games added in Kiwami 2, Motor Raid (its only home port) Fighting Vipers added and an exclusive Dead Souls/Virtua Cop/HOTD inspired light gun game. Plus I loved drone racing. While JE had no arena, the VR parlor made up for that. I suppose 7 falls into this as well, with it reusing many of JE's mini games but adds a few others (Drone Racing out, Mario Kart in!)

Ishin also deserves a mention for its wealth of (unique) content, the only point I felt that game fell down on is its side stories, not that many truly memorable ones.

Bonus shout out to Kurohyou 2 on the PSP. Because its a portable Yakuza experience that has actually more content than some full Yakuza games. Not to mention all the fighting options, and even more gambling options, and they managed to cram in stuff like Mahjong, the arcade, part time jobs etc. All on a PSP!
 

Father Kratos

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,589
Finished FOTNS. The last couple of chapters were dragged so much. Liked all the boss fights in the game, sub stories were good, learning and performing the crazy heat moves was fun :) I've never liked hostess club much in the games I've played so far but somehow liked it a lot in this game...same for bartending missions..dont think I've played it in another RGG studio's game. Controlling the buggy wasnt fun, so ignored most of the wastelands activities. The overall structure of Yakuza games is starting to become a bit stale for me and I've still 4 games left to play(PS4). Dont understand why people were so upset on the changes done in Yakuza 7.

My current ranking of the RGG games I've played:
Y0 >> YK1 > YK2 >> FoTNS > Y3.
Somehow I dont feel like leaving this world 😛 My completion % was 37, so thought to reach 50% completion and get few trophies. Spent hours and could only reach 44%...long road ahead. Concentrating on Hostess Club, Colosseum and arcade games first. Hopefully will not have to do wastelands activites.They are such a grind...drive 1000kms, collect 1000 materials....1000L fuel...
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
The fuel can be cheated - basically what you need are two upgrades - the smallest fuel tank possible and the largest. You equip the smallest fuel tank, then equip the largest and fill it up. Then equip the smallest again etc. Even though you just filled up the fuel tank, switching it to the smallest one means the maximum amount of fuel you keep is the amount it takes to fill the smallest tank. So you can essentially cheat the system. Because otherwise that'd take forever to do (even if you drove around loads).
Driving and materials are easy though - driving will be gotten naturally, materials also will be a mix of bartering and collecting as you explore. I got all that stuff naturally due to obsessively doing everything in the game, the materials especially are super easy to do as I naturally explored each area as it was unlocked (certain stuff only spawns in certain locations so it was worth it to explore). At least (if I remember correct) you don't have to craft every buggy upgrade (just unlock them for crafting) else that'd be a pain in the ass.
 
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
Thank you for your responses!

There are a couple of points to point out, though:
- I played a little bit of Yakuza 6 (the first chapter or so, maybe it was the demo) and Kiwami 2, so while I've seen that people don't like the Dragon Engine's combat, I find it really really fun.
- I think my biggest problem with Yakuza 5 is the bloat of it, not so much the combat which is okay. I think it's problematic if I find the story even slower than it should in a Yakuza game (which already are super slow burners). I had problems with the multiple protagonists idea of Yakuza 4, but this seems to take it even further. It's not a matter of losing Kiryu or not, it's a matter of spreading so thin for each character that there's barely anything there at the end IMO.

So, at the moment, I'm leaning more into skipping 5 and just going to 6 and then Judgement. But who knows, I'm definitely somewhat close to the beginning of the middle of the game, so I know it's a little bit unfair to talk much about the story.

At any case, thank you again guys :)
You are welcome.

Have you been playing the games without taking breaks by the way? Cause if so then 5 will burn you out easily. It already does even after not playing Yakuza for a while.

I recommend taking breaks after each Yakuza game. Play a game or two inbetween then return once you feel ready for it. From what you are saying, I have a feeling you will like 6 more. A friend of mine recently played 5 and he didn't like it much. He played the taxi missions but after that he just didn't feel like he wanted to play more so he skipped it and played 6. 6 was more engaging and the story isn't that dragged out or anything. It is the closest to Yakuza 1 with some Yakuza 3 mixed in there which was good enough to be way more fun for him.
Finished FOTNS. The last couple of chapters were dragged so much. Liked all the boss fights in the game, sub stories were good, learning and performing the crazy heat moves was fun :) I've never liked hostess club much in the games I've played so far but somehow liked it a lot in this game...same for bartending missions..dont think I've played it in another RGG studio's game. Controlling the buggy wasnt fun, so ignored most of the wastelands activities. The overall structure of Yakuza games is starting to become a bit stale for me and I've still 4 games left to play(PS4). Dont understand why people were so upset on the changes done in Yakuza 7.

My current ranking of the RGG games I've played:
Y0 >> YK1 > YK2 >> FoTNS > Y3.
Didn't see your post.

FOTNS was a really fun game. The combat is probably my favourite in the whole series and I am glad Judgment took some inspiration from it. When it comes to the pacing, it did have issues. The story wasn't as interesting as the other Yakuza games but it did it's job which is to create a fanservice game for any FOTNS fan. The biggest issue I have with it is that they tried stretching it out as much as possible when they didn't need to do that. The game has a lot of content and I don't think anybody would complain if it was a bit shorter but better paced.

The buggy, the chapters you are talking about (I believe that's when you had to drive back and forth to get by some rocks?), the grind and the lack of sprint and quality of life features really hurt it. Just a few fixes and the game would be better than a lot of games in the series due to how fun it is.

As for Yakuza 7, from what I have seen and been told, it is very similiar to the original series but the difference is the combat (which is what a lot of people come to the series for). Apart from that the structure of the game is still very similiar to the past games. If you ask me, I feel the series does need a change in the way it is structured. I feel some more varied missions and levels would be the way to go. Of course that's a bit hard to do when the game comes out every year or so, so they can't do much about that if they don't let the series rest for a bit.
 

SlickVic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,010
USA
Heh, got to Chapter 10 of Kiwami 2 and took a long diversion from the main story to do Cabaret Club from start to finish. Man that mode can get so addicting and it really does feel like a game within a game. Wound up maxing out the levels for all the Platinum hostesses and doing all their dates/substories so I'm officially done with it now.

Think I'll probably focus back on the main story for now, though I might get sidetracked again soon to do some more of the Majima construction stuff since I kind of want to see that story through as well. Man there's so much content in this game.
 

Kwigo

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
8,122
Ooooh boy, finished Judgment after almost 42 hours. What a fucking masterpiece!
The cast is awesome, the story is probably my favourite from all yakuza games, the detective stuff, while basic, was fun and the graphics are top notch.

After finishing Yakuza 2 through 5 the last few months it was a nice change of pace in terms of presentation and tone, but now I'm sad that I'll have to wait some months to enjoy another Yakuza game :(
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
Judge Eyes has the honor of (among other things) being the game with the best chair based QTE. Chapter 10's long fight and boss fight will live on in my personal Yakuza hall of fame for all time for that alone.
 

Desmond

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,391
lol after months on and off, (been playing a lot more of my PS3 backlog) Yakuza 5's platinum trophy still alludes me with its Baseball academic course lol.

And that's on the PS3, I still have two PS4 copies sealed (JPN and EU).
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
lol after months on and off, (been playing a lot more of my PS3 backlog) Yakuza 5's platinum trophy still alludes me with its Baseball academic course lol.

And that's on the PS3, I still have two PS4 copies sealed (JPN and EU).
I just paused and used a calculator. How dare Yakuza try teaching me basic mental arithmetic!

Thinking about Yakuza, trophies, and 100%s and if GoT wasn't out so soon I could have seen me replaying Yakuza 1 HD this month, I'm already hungry for another Yakuza game (and this one is the shortest of the bunch, so I'd be able to get almost all of it done quick). But I realised I never really gave Dead Souls 100% much of a try (ah, those pre Mahjong learning days...) so I'll definitely be playing that game either after 1HD, or 2HD (not entirely sure the order yet).
 

gachapin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,127
Tokyo
Roughly 30 degrees C with 75% humidity weather, everybody here still keep wearing mask in the public places. Wearing mask is kinda standard rule, no matter what season it is here now. I got feeling like even if the world goes back to normal, everybody will keep wearing it in this country.

You might know RGG studio always tries to capture the moment of the real world (mostly kabukicho) and bring it to their games. I wonder if Ichiban or whoever is the next main character(s) will always wear a mask, let alone all the pedestrians, residents and goons, in the next game lol
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
I can certainly see them having more NPCs wearing masks for the next game - later games have changed the way smoking is portrayed in the city, so I think masks being a wearable item as well will be implemented.
 

mudai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,356
Yeah, RGG is really good at capturing the current moment in the Yakuza games and I'm really curious to see if they might even do more than just NPCs wearing masks and perhaps talking about the pandemic.
 

Father Kratos

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,589
The fuel can be cheated
Thanks for the tip 🙂 I dont like racing/driving games in general, so mostly avoid stuff related to it. Also, I'm curious to know...what is your ranking of the Yakuza games + spin off titles?

The buggy, the chapters you are talking about (I believe that's when you had to drive back and forth to get by some rocks?), the grind and the lack of sprint and quality of life features really hurt it. Just a few fixes and the game would be better than a lot of games in the series due to how fun it is.
Yea, the last two chapters were there just for the sake of it. The twist towards the end dsnt make much sense....even for a Yakuza game.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
Thanks for the tip 🙂 I dont like racing/driving games in general, so mostly avoid stuff related to it. Also, I'm curious to know...what is your ranking of the Yakuza games + spin off titles?


Yea, the last two chapters were there just for the sake of it. The twist towards the end dsnt make much sense....even for a Yakuza game.
I don't rank Yakuza games, first because I think lists are pretty meaningless and either way, my opinion changes far too often.
All I can say is - if I were to pick 3 Yakuza games at this point in time as my favouritese - it'd be:
Kenzan, 5 and 7. 5 for the content and combat, 7 for the best plot and characters in the series, not to mention its wonderful fresh feel, and Kenzan because its amazing. Oh, and Kurohyou 2 on the PSP because its like having Yakuza 2 in the palm of your hands, but with its own story and unique combat system.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
6 is good, especially in the plot and ESPECIALLY in the soundtrack department but I do miss my beloved moves from 5. Its a pity it had to be the first Dragon Engine game, could have been even better with an extra year of polish. Has some pretty fun side content as well, especially the side stories, some of the best in the series there.
Judge Eyes is basically where the DE needed to be - though it helps loads that Yagami is a brand new character with a brand new fighting style(s) because I have nothing to compare him against (while I can easily cry about how nerfed Kiryu's moveslist is in Kiwami & 6 compared to 5). Plus they did an amazing job with the new heat moves in JE, and the tiger drop no longer sucks which is certainly great news.
 

SlickVic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,010
USA
Finally wrapped up Kiwami 2 after about 40 hours. Really liked it overall. I think I'd rank it between 0 (favorite so far) and Kiwami (which I also enjoyed) in terms of Yakuza games I've played so far. Really enjoyed the Cabaret Club (which I expected since I enjoyed it a lot in 0), but surprisingly also got hooked on the Majima Construction game, which I wasn't sure I'd like going into it. Just like the other Yakuza games, definitely had a good time with the main story, and some of substories were genuinely funny to me and I always enjoy going through those. I think I was expecting The Majima Saga to be a hair longer, but I didn't really mind. Without diving into spoilers, I did like the scenes that made a call back to Yakuza 0, and the ending felt like a nice closure to 0.

Don't know when I'll get around to playing 3 (still hoping the rest of them come to PC and may just end up playing Judgement in the meantime), but definitely looking forward to playing the rest of the series down the road.
 

Patitoloco

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
23,714
You are welcome.

Have you been playing the games without taking breaks by the way? Cause if so then 5 will burn you out easily. It already does even after not playing Yakuza for a while.

I recommend taking breaks after each Yakuza game. Play a game or two inbetween then return once you feel ready for it. From what you are saying, I have a feeling you will like 6 more. A friend of mine recently played 5 and he didn't like it much. He played the taxi missions but after that he just didn't feel like he wanted to play more so he skipped it and played 6. 6 was more engaging and the story isn't that dragged out or anything. It is the closest to Yakuza 1 with some Yakuza 3 mixed in there which was good enough to be way more fun for him.
Good question, it might as well be fatigue, but I waited a while between ending Yakuza 4 and starting 5, around 3 months.

Maybe it was a little bit too short haha
At any case, I actually haven't touched Y5 since May, so maybe I refreshed a little bit and can pick it up with a little more love. I think I will push in more and see how it goes!
 
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
Good question, it might as well be fatigue, but I waited a while between ending Yakuza 4 and starting 5, around 3 months.

Maybe it was a little bit too short haha
At any case, I actually haven't touched Y5 since May, so maybe I refreshed a little bit and can pick it up with a little more love. I think I will push in more and see how it goes!
That's possible. If you push on there is fun to be had.

I feel Yakuza 5 is best played in chunks. Play each character and take a break cause it is the one that is the easiest to get burned out on.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
I feel Yakuza 5 is best played in chunks. Play each character and take a break cause it is the one that is the easiest to get burned out on.
This is excellent advice, its usually what I do. 5 is essentially several games in one in terms of content. So its best to not try marathoning it else you'd probably go mad, especially if your aiming for either Amon or the plat trophy. Plus its just fun to dip in and out of it.

www.resetera.com

Katsuhiro Harada seems to be teasing Kiryu for Tekken 7 (New Image)

========= The logo is a real restaurant chain called Matsuya's in Japan. However, as seen above they're very prevalent in the Yakuza series while from my knowledge haven't been in much else game wise. It's possible Namco Bandai just asked for the chain to include in a new Tekken 7 stage, but...
Harada could easily just be trolling again. I refuse to believe it until I see it. But thinking about it, it'd be pretty awesome to live out my Fatal Fury X Yakuza crossover idea in Tekken should it happen.
 

gachapin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,127
Tokyo
IIRC, 5 (2011 or 2012?) is the last game which has Matsuya. Do we still associate Matsuya with RGG!?

I can certainly see them having more NPCs wearing masks for the next game - later games have changed the way smoking is portrayed in the city, so I think masks being a wearable item as well will be implemented.
Yeah, RGG is really good at capturing the current moment in the Yakuza games and I'm really curious to see if they might even do more than just NPCs wearing masks and perhaps talking about the pandemic.
Could be a good opportunity to make another zombie game ;p
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
Another Dead Souls... I'd be legit excited for that to happen. I wonder who would be included for such a game though - playable characters wise I'd love Ichiban (of course), Majima would have to return (with Saejima in tow this time, no more trips to China...), Saeko (would just love to see her taking out zombies like a pro) and... Kashiwagi? (my first pick was Kuze, but even for a game that would never happen, Kuze would never happen).

Or make it a crossover with Judge Eyes - Ichiban & friends, Yagami and Kaito all investigating the outbreak.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513


My favourite tune in all of Kenzan - Itou's (Detective Date) boss theme. It sounds bizarrely relaxing when you consider this is essentially a duel to the death (but not really), but it stands out to me from the rest of the soundtrack. Coupled with some good plot twists for Itou and a really badass QTE between the two of them... this is by far my favourite use of Date in the entire series (though more recently he's gotten a few great scenes)
 

SolidChamp

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,867
So after finishing The Last of Us Part 2 today I decided my next game is going to be Yakuza 3 Remastered. I've taken a long hiatus from the series after finishing Kiwami 2 and then Judgement sometime after that.

I have heard that the combat system in 3 can be frustrating. After the endurance test that was TLOU2, I'm looking for a much more chill experience.

Tips/recommendations are super appreciated! Thanks guys!
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
So after finishing The Last of Us Part 2 today I decided my next game is going to be Yakuza 3 Remastered. I've taken a long hiatus from the series after finishing Kiwami 2 and then Judgement sometime after that.

I have heard that the combat system in 3 can be frustrating. After the endurance test that was TLOU2, I'm looking for a much more chill experience.

Tips/recommendations are super appreciated! Thanks guys!
Well its certainly a more chill experience for the first few chapters. Where as TLOU2 went one way, Yakuza is very much more about the opposite in the orphan sections, its slow, but a really nice experience.

The one thing too many people overlook about the combat (and then complain about... lol) is that in this game you can get major powerful upgrades really early in the game (around chapter 4-5) - so basically look up the details to all of Komaki's training - as it lets you get all the best counter moves really early in the game - that includes the legendary Tiger Drop which is amazingly strong in this game AND can bounce people off of walls for follow up combos. So get it early and learn its timing to mess people up.

Other than that, just dodge behind people and attack them from behind (like, every Yakuza game) as this solves the more block happy enemies. Its really not hard or all that frustrating, I'd say its more a mix of people button bashing mindlessly and just not upgrading Kiryu. You get more than enough XP early on to unlock tons of moves, though it is worth leveling up in the first Kamurocho area before heading for the boss, because like many Yakuza games it forces you to unlock the stomp heat move (triangle when enemy is on the ground) which you'll use in the first couple of chapters before you get good moves.
3's got excellent combat if your willing to learn how it all works... Or just play it on easier difficulties, because hard mode actually isn't easy mode no.3 in this game!
 

SolidChamp

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,867
Well its certainly a more chill experience for the first few chapters. Where as TLOU2 went one way, Yakuza is very much more about the opposite in the orphan sections, its slow, but a really nice experience.

The one thing too many people overlook about the combat (and then complain about... lol) is that in this game you can get major powerful upgrades really early in the game (around chapter 4-5) - so basically look up the details to all of Komaki's training - as it lets you get all the best counter moves really early in the game - that includes the legendary Tiger Drop which is amazingly strong in this game AND can bounce people off of walls for follow up combos. So get it early and learn its timing to mess people up.

Other than that, just dodge behind people and attack them from behind (like, every Yakuza game) as this solves the more block happy enemies. Its really not hard or all that frustrating, I'd say its more a mix of people button bashing mindlessly and just not upgrading Kiryu. You get more than enough XP early on to unlock tons of moves, though it is worth leveling up in the first Kamurocho area before heading for the boss, because like many Yakuza games it forces you to unlock the stomp heat move (triangle when enemy is on the ground) which you'll use in the first couple of chapters before you get good moves.
3's got excellent combat if your willing to learn how it all works... Or just play it on easier difficulties, because hard mode actually isn't easy mode no.3 in this game!

Hey I knew you'd come through for me, but wasn't expecting such an awesome write up! Thanks a bunch and as always, your enthusiasm for this series never fails to be so infectious.
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
So, out of curiocity/boredom, I decided to see if I could find the original RGG pre release trailers on Youtube. Didn't really succeed on that, but did find a couple of Yakuza:





For some reason the second one is insanely dark, I'll just blame IGN for that... Interesting that the first trailer retains the Japanese voices, and then the second trailer... oh dear :( Shimano sounds far worse than I remember, and not like anyone else really sounds that much better.
The two trailers have one thing in common though - it entirely focuses on combat, and plot - all the side content is completely hidden, you'd be forgiven for thinking the game is just an action brawler from these trailers. Kinda highlights the issues with the games marketing for years, the games lean almost exclusively on the dark gritty side of things (the try hard narrator in the second video is the perfect example of that) while pretending the light hearted side of the game doesn't exist. I really wish I could find Japanese trailers to see if they did the same back then as later games - a story centric trailer, and one that focuses on the gameplay and content.
With such marketing over here its no surprise Sega tried chopping out lots of the unique stuff in Yakuza 3 in some misguided attempt at "cutting content that didn't appeal to overseas fans"!
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
So despite having no shortage of games to play, I find myself quite happily playing more Kenzan today, premium adventure mode because I wasn't happy how I left my 100% run last time (which as I covered before, is just a bit shit in Kenzan). And hey, managed this today:


All 227 weapons obtained/purchased/modded. Required two guides and some trial and error (would you believe both guides were completely incorrect for one particular weapon mod?!

Unfortunately I have to redo all the rest of the stuff on the list bar the heat moves (if PA didn't wipe my progress, I'd only have about 10 mini games left to clear now...)
Didn't really plan on doing everything again (after all, no trophies or anything so there's really no point to any of this) but its been bizarrely fun (well, Yakuza is always fun).

Interestingly, the modding process in Kenzan is fairly easy. Aside from a couple of rare drops (mercifully only a couple require any sort of grinding), the rest can be gotten fairly easily though money is a concern - I only managed to craft everything probably thanks to basically doing the best part of two playthroughs (as bounties etc. reset in PA, I could use that to get a nice chunk of change quick, ditto Arena fights)
Otherwise you get 90% of items from side stories, coin lockers and purchasing them, so its really easy to do.

Most of the rest of the completion list is also a pushover to do, its really just some of the mini game requirements that would be a pain. I'll take a break for now but will probably end up drifting back to this game soon enough!
 

tryagainlater

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,256
Don't need no trophies to be a Yakuza completionist. I try to finish the completion list regardless whether there's a trophy for it or not..
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
For sure, though Kenzan's list is really evil. Anyone that complained about 3 being a tough plat would have their head explode going for this 100%. Getting further though, making decent progress on the list (again) but will see how doing the mini games go, not sure if the archery or card game will be more evil to clear...
 

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,513
And that's the last of the invention materials I needed. Game decided to pull a FOTNS on me, and require some grinding in the arena for a couple of drops. The official guide book I have listed the one item I needed at a 3% drop rate and boy I felt that! Took almost 40 plays of the one arena GP before it dropped. Thankfully unlike FOTNS, you get a drop at the end of every win, where as in FOTNS you gotta hope a gold midget dude spawns, beat him within the time limit, win the rounds, then cry because you get the wrong random item drop.

Random grinding for items is at least done now. Since I seem to still want to try and get a better % than before, I now just have a few things left to clear - training (easy), food (super easy), hostesses (easy, a bit annoying to have to redo...), all arena fighters (pretty simple, aside from getting a couple to spawn sometimes!), locker keys (just need to look up where the last 3 are) and the bit that'll take 99% of my time - the mini game list. Because that's a tough bastard of a list to clear the last 7 or so mini games. That'll be the point I'll no doubt have problems, but hey I'll give it another shot just for the heck of it.
For some reason, its really damn fun to do... guessing I won't be replaying Yakuza 1 anytime soon at this rate!