Yakuza Series (Non-spoiler thread)

Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
I just finished Yakuza 5, credits are rolling,waiting for the final cutscene (usually there is one.) Yakuza 5 is up there, might even be top 2 for me tbh. It's so well put together and it looks amazing. It has to be the one I've put the most hours into because boy is it HUGE. Also Akiyama... ngl he's competing for virtual husbando position. Also... it has hands down the best/ most hilarious minigame of all time.
I'm taking about Taxi driving of course
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Okay,

That last cutscene was all symbolic and nice, but kinda funny, because dude has been dragging his ass all the way back to the city from the Tojo Headquarters, without picking up his jacket, and his phone?? Like, I'm sure he could have called somebody? xD But still, was a sweet scene. Of course, by now I know the series well enough to know the next game is going to come up with some reason why they can't stay together and be happy, but still.

Of course I had to jump straight into Yakuza 6. Lo and behold, glorious PS4 Yakuza, we meet again! IMO this game doesn't look as pretty (and by that I mean the character models mostly) as Yakuza 0, but from what I can tell, they learned some lessons from 6 that they used to make 0 as good as it is.

Most notably, I think there's a pretty big quality difference in the character renders. Kiryu looks... off somehow, as if they couldn't quite decide on his design and ended up with something a bit uncanny valley. He still looks good though, don't get me wrong. Akiyama also looked a bit off in the opening, however he looks ten times better in the sewers section in Chapter 1. Haruka looks generic realistic anime girl, I wasn't expecting them to give her face much of a personality, lol. Although that bland perfect cute thing is probably her trademark now, so, it wouldn't look the same if they tried to give her facial traits, I guess? It's kinda like with that cop in Yakuza 2... she was always the most dissappointing mdel to me because while everyone else looked like they were given a HD upgrade for Kiwami 2, she looked kind of fake.

Anyway, Daigo looks pretty good, Date looks very good, Majima and Saejima look SUPER GOOD. Saejima is probably my favourite PS4 upgrade so far.

Seriously, me starting this game was such a nostalgia trip for me, it's the most excited I've been about a game/ movie/ series in a really long time.

Also, about Akiyama, that fight with Kiryu and Akiyama was so much fun to watch because they took his fighting style and just aced it up to super cool. I want to play as him now more than ever. (I used him in the Finale in Yakuza 5 and that was by far my favourite section to play in the Finale.)

That baby (still not convince is Haruka's child tho) looks really good though. Babies are hard to draw and hard to animate. They pretty much nailed it imo.

I'm so glad I went into this completely unspoiled, it was so worth it. Thank god it's still fairly easy to avoid them.

Edit: Oh wait, I think 0 came before 6 actually? Still, there was probably some parallel processes here.
 
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Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Of course Yuta is the father. Called it like 10 minutes into Hiroshima :P I like him, but I don't hink his character is consistent throughout the game? Like, I understand he had sort of a trauma learning two shocking things at the same time, but still... I loved Date arresting him though, it really was a "down, puppy!" moment.

Overall I really like this game. It's not my favourite, to me it seems A-team was doing Yakuza 0 so this was a little bit left to the B-team, but it's still a good game. I like how they changed the cabaret in this version, it feels fresh. Other than that, I like the gym mini game lol. But finding the right dishes is pain. Like, I figured out curry is Japan's national dish, but I couldn't figure out which restaurant has them, so I missed out. THEN I realised I could have checked the Awards list. Duh.

I'm sad Han Joon-Gi died because he was cool as fuck. Total Balthier vibes.

I'm gonna take my time with this because even though Yakuza 7 is out on PS4 now, who knows when the next Yakuza game will be announced. Oh well, I still have 4 & 5 to finish on PS4, lol. X)
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
...okay, this game is short? Much shorter than I expected. I thought Haruka would wake up and then we'd be like halfway, which is usually how it goes. But, she wakes up (kinda off screen? at least Kiryu learns it off screen, which is... meh.) But all of a sudden it's FINALE! and I'm like... wut? I'd hope/ I was expecting Haruka to play some part in this due to her voice actor being the second actor announced in the intro, but instead she's basically in a coma for the entire game and instead of a character she's some sort of McGuffin. I really don't like it because in the first Yakuza game not only was she a character, she also had a personality and was the heart and soul of the game. What I liked about Yakuza 6 is't the plot because... the plot is always a massive info dump. What I liked about it was the family stuff. The best scenes are really heartfelt and at some point I felt really warm and fluffy. idk, the last chapters feel... rushed? As if they decided to skip gameplay during a lot of the exposition dumps and instead hurried towards the finale.

Also where the fuck is Maejima? And Saejima? I can understand no Toriyama, but... that fourth dude from Yakuza 5 should at least been there.

Oh well, here's hoping to more content in the finale (ending scenes) plus in various side stories. By looking at the Awards, there's still a massive amount of content left for me to do. I'd do more before finishing but I'm short on cash atm...

So far I've played this game completely blind and I'll keep doing so for as long as possible. I've only gotten somewhat stuck once, but I managed to figure it out in the end. I guess that says something about good game design.
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
I finished Yakuza 6.

Tears.

I think it was a fitting ending. From the Yakuza: Like a dragon trailers we knew he wasn't dead, but I read a spoiler way back that said he did, so I kinda believed it for a moment there. At least almost 70%.

tbh it's not my favourite Yakuza. I'm not gonna hold against it that it's simpler than the previous titles, but still, I find it too short and the last third just flew by like crazy and kinda gave me Dragon Age II feels in that matter (story cut due to being rushed.) What I like the least is the minimum amount of screen time Haruka gets. I was fine with almost no Majima, but not Haruka. I guess she plays her part but I kinda wish it was bigger. I'm glad Akiyama was in it and somehow it felt fitting it would be him. Were they aiming for Mr. A as main protagonist of Yakyza 7?

Anyway I was finally able to watch a YouTube video of one of my favourite game video essayists, ThorHighHeels, where he talks about how it's not really 6 ending the series, but 6 and 0 combined. Seeing 6 in that light, how 6 is "back to basics" with all the other complexities the series has become, while 0 is the rest, it makes me appreciate what they did with 6 more. It's kinda clever tbh. They barely had any Majima in 6 because he's a main protagonist in 0.

So that's the end of this. It's been a really fun ride and I'm really glad Hollie of Playstation Access made videos on the series because that's where I first found out about it. I do love Final Fantasy but this is definitely my favourite video game franchise, because compared to FF, there's not a game in there I don't like :P

I'm hoping for a localisation of Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!. It's the first PS4 Yakuza game so it's not like they need to remake it. I'm pretty sure it'd do decent and hopefully it's the next game in line for localisation now that Yakuza: Like a dragon is out.

Speaking of the latter... I started it just to see how much I'd like it or not, as Judgement is a game I'm not a huge fan of. The battle system looks really interesting, I think I can definitely get into it. But I think I need to put it down for a bit because I guess I still have the post Yakua 6 blues lmao.
 
Strangelove

Strangelove

AI Researcher
AKA
hitoshura
but when will they ever remaster kenzan

i never bought it but it was one of the first ps3 demos i ever tried and one of the trailers showed a sub quest that involved. like. cows getting abducted by aliens or something and i must know what was going on there
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
I started Yakuza 7/ Like a Dragon a few weeks ago and I must be nearing 75 hours already, not done with story yet of course :P It's a proper Yakuza game in that way. So far I'm thoroughly enjoying it, I think they've struck a really nice balance embracing the old while making sure it's new enough. Also kudos for FINALLY having realistic looking female characters :P

I went into the game not even knowing it's an RPG, lol. I like how they reused some 0 stuff, plus the call backs to the older games. The spike in difficulty in chapter 12 was... interesting, but I don't hate it. Considering who the boss fight(s) were it's actually a cool twist. Throw people into it unprepared, have your ass kicked! But apparently you can get through it on the lowest level possible (32). I wouldn't chance it though.

Ichiban is a nice protagonist, at least he's miiiiiiiiles better than Yagumi :lol: I mean, I'm still gonna play the Judgement sequel, no doubt. But so far he's by far my least favourite Yakuza protagonist, all of the Yakuza series protagonists included. But that's just me.

Will post moar when done with game. I'm a bit vary of reading and writing too much about it before finishing it. I've played all of the Yakuza games fairly unspoiled and that has made some great memories for me.
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Kiryu literally turning into a dragon I'm dying

That was fun :monster: The entire thing, with Kiryu just showing up in the streets IN HIS SUIT to save Ichiban from being consumed by anger. Such lame but also such wonderfully lame and fitting with Kiryu being all "I'm gonna beat some sense into you!" I wonder how new fans felt about that scene. It's just so iconicly Kiryu to solve things with violence, but out of context it might feel off? idk. Also I kinda wish they'd not make the armour available as a skin, I haven't been using it and I was happy with that decision because when Ichi showed up in it for his concussion fantasy it was great. But if you'd been using it that scene might be... less great. (I'm not good with words today)

I switched back to Japanese and I'm glad I did. Nothing wrong with the English VA's for the old crew, I think they did well with it, although I wish they'd turn up Majima's laugh when we see his boot because in the Japanese version it's so brilliantly timed with laugh + boot, while in the English it's boot first and then a laugh that's a bit toned down. Although I guess it makes sense to let the English voices be their own thing and not trying to make them dupes.

Also, related to Yakuza 6: I just need to say something about Han Joon-gi. This man is LITERALLY the complete fantasy for heterosexual women. This. THIS. Is the body type to go for if you're creating a character for women to swoon over. Not some huge ass male power fantasy. Same with his face - to hell with super rugged wide faces. Smooth yet strong. Like, you can't top this. It's Damiano from Måneskin energy.

*cough* anyway

What really sells "him" though is Yeonsu Kim's personality. It's not macho ass hero, it's kind and calm with a smirk. Swoon.

Is it 3 when we first hear of Nanoha, or is it 4? But okay, some thoughts about Saeko/ Nanoha. Why do I get the feeling these two were originally going to be the same character? Like, looking at the "core four", it's basically an ex-con, a homeless guy, an unemployed guy and... a prostitute's sister? Wat? Did they halt that idea due to 'omg can't have sex workers as a main character' or just did it never occur to them that if they really wanted to do the whole outcasts thing, they'd just put a goddamn soapland worker into the actual party? idk when I started thinking about it it just bugged me. I mean I'm happy with what they did with the whole Bleach Japan thing, but still. Would have been magnificent.
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Okay sorry for being such a fangirl BUT - DANE DAME is a meme. Yes. And Akiyama was the first to sing Baka mitai in Yakuza 5. Anyway -

This mashup compares Nanba (English voice) to Akiyama (Japanese vocie, original) and I'm super impressed?? The voice actor (or crew) picks up on the little things that makes the song be what it is. Honestly, I'm super impressed with the ENG voice work on this thing. (Edit: This thing being Yakuza 7.) Kudos guys!

 
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Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Yakuza 7 finale. I'm going in.

(Was originally going to finish on my birthday yesterday but was a biiit hung over from the day before plus there was football, so. I postponed it.)
 
Strangelove

Strangelove

AI Researcher
AKA
hitoshura
i am this close to getting a second hand copy of kenzan and of the end (idk what they called the zombie one in english now) for about 1200 yen, but there is also one with 3, 4, 5 and isshin for the ps3 that's only 1000 yen. but i know they've released updated ports (and in isshin's case it was multiplatform from the start) for the ps4. so i'm like, do i save 200 yen and get 4 games i'd rather play on a newer console. or do i spend a little bit more for just the games that i don't think have ever been rereleased.

edit; looking at these was a bad choice because i am now searching bundles of games like "maybe i should spend £300 on a giant box of ps1 games 90% of which i have no interest in"
 
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Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Yakuza: Dead Souls :)

I really wish I knew Japanese. Would love to play the other two.

I finished 7, back to completionist hell. UFO catcher you marvellous bastard...
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
...still in completionist hell. By choice. Because this game has me asking for the whip, and it is a pretty nice grindy whip :monster:

I think I have... 4 trophies to go for the PS Platinum? I started NG+ on Legacy at level 70 and oh boy, did I struggle getting through the Excavator... I must have attempted it like 40 times, but I finally did it. Screams! One thing is I was a bit underlevelled, but I didn't have Orbital Laser + I was lacking a few other skills that would have made that fight much MUCH easier. After getting better weapons and grinding a few jobs, the rest of the run was pretty smooth. Still not done though, currently at final chapter - I don't want to finish just yet because NG+ Legend gives a LOT of Job EXP, so I plan on grinding a bit more before going in. And yeah... I'm on 140 hours or something? My sidequests didn't carry over so I'm gonna have to redo them again in Premium Adventure after this, but that's fine. My biggest fear is actually Dragon Kart, because I'm not a kart fan. But oh well.

This game is so satisfying. I mean I love all the other Yakuza games and I'm not saying I love this more... but it's just so satisfying. They did so well with it. I'm so happy.
 
Lestat

Lestat

He/him
AKA
Ergo, V
I started playing like a dragon last week and love it. Been powering my way through it and pretty much right up to the final section now after doing all the side quests and trying to farm XP.

No matter how many times I try and farm the XP boosting enemies in the underground though I just can't seem to max out jobs in this game XD

Pretty much everyone is now 3 levels under their max job level and I've had to give up midway on ichiban doing the hero role in order to open up more areas with the foreman role.

NGL the sidequests made this game for me and I had a blast doing the stock market and watching ichiban forge the friendships on all the characters.
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Okay I really want to play Ishin! nao. I wish they'd localised it already because I'd prefer playing an official version on my PS4/PS5, but this fan localisation is looking preeeetty sweet. Hopefully they'll finish this project, from what I gather they're about halfway done?


It just looks so much better than I'd expected, and I don't mean just graphics wise and stuff, but the story and characters and general writing just seems really good.

Also this fucking song I just can't

 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Just finished Yakuza 7 (I really should start calling it Yakuza: Like a Dragon shouldn't I, seeing as Yakuza 7 is the Japanese title, but oh well) on Legend - I do hope I get a shitton of cash now :P and that I get to continue playing on a (new) regular Premium Adventure, if not I'm screwed lol

Edit: lmao, so there I was expecting a trophy to pop (Yakuza games always have a Legend difficulty trophy) but this fucker doesn't have one :lol: So I went through all that shit for basically nothing, haha!! Now I have to redo all the side stories because they were reset for NG+. loooool
Anyway it's not true I got nothing out of it because it was pretty easy to grind Job EXP on Legend plus I had a lot of fun with it, it was a good challenge. That being said... that was ~100 hours of my life I don't get back :wacky:

omg that's such a Baka Mitai moment hahaha
 
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Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
No but seriously this is not a good time to give up games

Fuck it fuck being a software developer I'd rather do something else for work so I can play games

or

ARMS YOU HAVE UNTIL 2023 TO START BEHAVING


Also the Joryu memes I can't
 
Redbaron97

Redbaron97

Lv. 1 Adventurer
HEYO KYOUDAI~!!!!!!
Great to finally see a fellow Yakuza fan here. I just started on 0. Played 0 and Kiwami 1 on my potato PC and loved it so much that I bought the whole Kiryu saga on PS4. Currently playing 0 for the funky disco games.
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
I've started Lost Judgment twice now because I keep losing interest and I'm not so sure there'll be a third because I find the protagonist so completely uninteresting. Maybe if there was an Ono Michi skin I might be able to finish

However I started playing Kaito Files and oh boy <3 Can Kaito become the new protagonist of the series pretty fucking please <3 <3 <3
 
Fangu

Fangu

Great Old One
Yep so gameplay and story trailer for Yakuza 8, excuse me, Like a Dragon: Infinite wealth dropped and yikes. It's releasing towards the end of January and I'll be barely finished with Gaiden by then??!

Heck I'm not even done with Lost Judgment yet!

Also with VII Rebirth in February.... hectic times man, hectic
 
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
I finally gave in and bought Yakuza 0.

So far I've beaten up a few hoodlums and sang karaoke. I'm getting Wall Market vibes. :mon:
 
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