Yakuza Series
- Thread starter The Wolf King
- Start date
You bet. It's just one of those games that make PlayStation what it is. Random Japanese game, that's actually good but you might not think so at first until you give it a try.
Yakuza Developer Will Announce its New Game on August 26th
Yakuza series Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi will announce the new game by the Yakuza studio in the traditional period of new Yakuza announcements in August.
The event will be presented by legendary Yakuza series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi, that incidentally mentioned about a month ago that “something” will be announced about the future of the Yakuza series in August.
In the meanwhile, Yakuza fans are in for more treats in the west, with Yakuza Kiwami (the remake of the glorious first game of the franchise) releasing in North America and Europe on August 29th, while Yakuza 6 will come west early next year.
http://www.dualshockers.com/yakuza-studio-new-game-announcement/
Yakuza series Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi will announce the new game by the Yakuza studio in the traditional period of new Yakuza announcements in August.
The event will be presented by legendary Yakuza series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi, that incidentally mentioned about a month ago that “something” will be announced about the future of the Yakuza series in August.
In the meanwhile, Yakuza fans are in for more treats in the west, with Yakuza Kiwami (the remake of the glorious first game of the franchise) releasing in North America and Europe on August 29th, while Yakuza 6 will come west early next year.
http://www.dualshockers.com/yakuza-studio-new-game-announcement/
I'm still playing this game an hour a day or so. I'm in Ch. 7 now. Not sure what I enjoy more -- the main story or the side missions.
The side missions are the best since Witcher 3, lol, although of a whole different character. They have plenty of humor and Japanese weirdness. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get a little teary-eyed, sometimes I just roll my eyes.
The main story is really good, too. I have been surprised how emotional it gets, sometimes. I was actually crying at one point not long ago, which is really unusual for me. I did not expect that from Yakuza.
The map is really quite small, just a few square blocks. You'll get used to it.
The side missions are the best since Witcher 3, lol, although of a whole different character. They have plenty of humor and Japanese weirdness. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get a little teary-eyed, sometimes I just roll my eyes.
The main story is really good, too. I have been surprised how emotional it gets, sometimes. I was actually crying at one point not long ago, which is really unusual for me. I did not expect that from Yakuza.
The map is really quite small, just a few square blocks. You'll get used to it.
Saw the thread for Yakuza 0 over at GAF, good to see so many people enjoy games like these. Niche my ass. I might need to sign up, always thought it was a cesspool honestly, but seems like there are a hell of a lot more like minded people over there that actually like games.
GAF is a good place for game discussion. Almost all the threads there (in the Gaming Discussion forum) are about games. And they've got the population to support discussion of games other than the few AAA blockbuster titles we get every year.
YakuzaGAF is a friendly, enthusiastic group of gamers. Participating in those discussions is fun and reminds me of why I play games. I probably would've just written the game off as a GTA-like brawler, had I not listened to them.
I'm about 35 hours in, two-thirds through (just finished Ch. 10). Really enjoying my time with the game.
Yakuza sure has a funny/strange way of dealing with sexuality. Them Japanese...
* some side mission spoilers below*
I run a "hostess" club that makes me basically feel like a pimp.
There was a side mission where I stole a porn mag for an 8 year old boy. [wonder how that would've gone over, had it been a western dev.]
There is this guy:
There are video stores where you watch brief soft-core stuff, then hear a "uuh" sound effect and see a box of Kleenex.
There is women's wrestling.
There are scenes like this, where I'm trying to coach an aspiring dominatrix:
It's all pretty juvenile. But it's also well-written and funny, for the most part.
It's one of the more unique aspects of the game, that's for sure. Good ol' Japan.
* some side mission spoilers below*
I run a "hostess" club that makes me basically feel like a pimp.
There was a side mission where I stole a porn mag for an 8 year old boy. [wonder how that would've gone over, had it been a western dev.]
There is this guy:
There are video stores where you watch brief soft-core stuff, then hear a "uuh" sound effect and see a box of Kleenex.
There is women's wrestling.
There are scenes like this, where I'm trying to coach an aspiring dominatrix:
It's all pretty juvenile. But it's also well-written and funny, for the most part.
It's one of the more unique aspects of the game, that's for sure. Good ol' Japan.
Finished tonight. What a great game.
+ complex, dramatic story that kept getting better and held my attention the whole way
+ combat fun, visceral, varied
+ lots of meat (spent 48 hours on main story plus a dozen side missions, much unexplored)
+ weirdness
+ authenticity re. yakuza
+ good localization
+ good modeling on the 8 to 10 main characters
+ good voice acting (even though it's subtitled)
+ very funny at times
- graphics are PS3-ish for the most part
- so many moving pieces, hard to keep track of clans and players
Surprises:
+ how emotional I got at times. They go for the drama, in a big, unrestrained way, and they often succeed
+ what a great sense of humor the game has; it takes itself very seriously and yet ... doesn't, at all
+ what an odd mix of serious melodrama and complete silliness
+ how strong the story was, and what a big part of the game the story was
+ how deep it got into the characters' motives and personalities (especially the main two, and their origins)
Easy 9/10. Great game. Were it not for Horizon, this would be my GOTY.
+ complex, dramatic story that kept getting better and held my attention the whole way
+ combat fun, visceral, varied
+ lots of meat (spent 48 hours on main story plus a dozen side missions, much unexplored)
+ weirdness
+ authenticity re. yakuza
+ good localization
+ good modeling on the 8 to 10 main characters
+ good voice acting (even though it's subtitled)
+ very funny at times
- graphics are PS3-ish for the most part
- so many moving pieces, hard to keep track of clans and players
Surprises:
+ how emotional I got at times. They go for the drama, in a big, unrestrained way, and they often succeed
+ what a great sense of humor the game has; it takes itself very seriously and yet ... doesn't, at all
+ what an odd mix of serious melodrama and complete silliness
+ how strong the story was, and what a big part of the game the story was
+ how deep it got into the characters' motives and personalities (especially the main two, and their origins)
Easy 9/10. Great game. Were it not for Horizon, this would be my GOTY.
Did you notice how much harder the combat gets for Kazuma? out of nowhere the AI got a lot more aggressive and it's hard to get hits in lol, didn't happen with the other character. I'm really enjoying the game and the dramatic moments I've come across so far were awesome, still just curious as to why combat gets more challenging for one character and not the other.
I didn't really notice too much of a difference. I assume you're levelling both characters up.
Do you have the Charismatic Autobiography equipped on one of the characters, by chance? If so, unequip that. It makes other players on the street much more aggressive. I was warned about that early. (Also, avoid equipping the towel -- it prevents any heat build up).
It might be a difference in the styles you're using. For instance, Majima's Slugger style is very good, almost overpowered, very helpful with bosses. Kiryu's Rush mode is comparatively weak. Fast, but weak. His Brawler style is much better, I think. I was recommended to focus mostly on Kiryu's Brawler style and Majima's Slugger style, and it served me well. I'd occasionally shift to his Beast mode to handle large crowds but mostly focused on those other two styles.
I'll check what I have equipped, yeah I find at times the Rush style is the only one that let's me get hits in sometimes. Thanks for the info!
It's good for everything honestly. I'm becoming a fan. You can literally google anything following with NeoGAF and find an informative thread or just read people's opinions on a topic. Kinda funny how people think it's biased towards PS. Yeah, it's biased.. if you consider 90% of people's opinions matching up with each other being biased. Of course you get the bad apples, like any other place.
I've still got more to do in Yakuza 0 (only finished about half the side-stories, which are great), so I'll continue to play that for a while. I've ordered Kiwami ($25 with Prime, what a steal), but it will probably sit on my shelf for a while. Don't want to get Yakuza burnout.
Here's a new preview of Yakuza Kiwami:
"Like Yakuza 0 before it, it’s almost impossible to overstate just how frequently Yakuza Kiwami oscillates between the wacky and the serious."
"Encompassing much more than just a visual upgrade, Kiwami makes good on its ‘full remake’ promise by tearing out whole gameplay systems from the PS2 release, adding in new content and making subtle changes to the narrative so that falls in line with the origins plot established in the wonderful Yakuza 0."
http://www.psu.com/preview/33702/yakuza-kiwami-gameplay-impressions-hands-on
Here's a new preview of Yakuza Kiwami:
"Like Yakuza 0 before it, it’s almost impossible to overstate just how frequently Yakuza Kiwami oscillates between the wacky and the serious."
"Encompassing much more than just a visual upgrade, Kiwami makes good on its ‘full remake’ promise by tearing out whole gameplay systems from the PS2 release, adding in new content and making subtle changes to the narrative so that falls in line with the origins plot established in the wonderful Yakuza 0."
http://www.psu.com/preview/33702/yakuza-kiwami-gameplay-impressions-hands-on
I haven't played the game and likely never will. But nice avy Andy.
I'm glad you all are enjoying the game/series.
I'm glad you all are enjoying the game/series.
Thanks, Dno. It's cool to discover an underappreciated title like this -- and not just one game, but a whole series that has been going on a decade, and I wasn't even aware of it. I figured I wouldn't like it. But I did. A lot. So it's been a happy surprise.
I checked the equipped items I had and changed them around and it fixed the issue, not sure if it was a cloth I had equipped or not. I did have a rare book or something that said people would try to take it from me, I unequipped both items and it's back to normal.
I just finished chapter 6 and holy crap is the story getting intense. For all of it's pervy quirks and likely dialogue changes it really is telling a great story. I'm very glad I bought this game. I'm glad I got this when I did, so I can finish it before the next one comes out in a few weeks. It's really making me wish Sega would move on doing a high end rebuild of Shenmue 1&2 as well lol.
Ah, yes, that was the Charismatic Autobiography. That was the source of the trouble. Glad you got it fixed.
Yeah, I cried manly tears at the end of Ch. 6. It really got me.
Yakuza 2, remade with the new engine, is on the way. This is a leak ahead of the official announcement.
"Sega's embracing of the Yakuza series continues. With a remake of the first game just days away, a PSN listing has revealed that Yakuza 2 will apparently be getting the same treatment."
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psn-leak-reveals-ps4-yakuza-2-remake-is-coming/1100-6452857/
Very cool. So now we have:
"Sega's embracing of the Yakuza series continues. With a remake of the first game just days away, a PSN listing has revealed that Yakuza 2 will apparently be getting the same treatment."
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psn-leak-reveals-ps4-yakuza-2-remake-is-coming/1100-6452857/
Very cool. So now we have:
- Yakuza 0 (new game)
- Yakuza Kiwami (first game, remade with new engine)
- Yakuza 2 (second game, remade with new engine)
- Yakuza 6 (most recent game)
ok this series confuses the s*** out of me. I own the 3rd one for PS3 and the first two for PS2 Never got around to playing them. So if I want to start into the series where do I start? Seems they're remaking the games that were on PS2 now for PS4 I know they did HD remakes for PS3 with the first two games that were on ps2. I take it start with Zero then go to kiwami being as it's a remake of the first game? So far as I know the 2nd one has yet to be remade other then the PS3 HD version right? That never came to the US far as I know.
hm ok now my head hurts.
ok looking at my games seems I own part 3,4,5 on PS3. I take it Sega. Sega needs to just do a damn pack with most of the games already. So confusing with all the versions and remakes and what not.
hm ok now my head hurts.
ok looking at my games seems I own part 3,4,5 on PS3. I take it Sega. Sega needs to just do a damn pack with most of the games already. So confusing with all the versions and remakes and what not.
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Sounds like they're going all out. Would be cool if they did a mega release with all games packed into a bundle or something.
Either Kiwami or 0 is a good start, then go from there. You can start anywhere really, it's like one big story.
Yakuza 0, no doubt.
1. It's a new game, unlike Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, which are remakes with a new engine (plus additional gameplay and cutscenes).
2. It is a game designed to be newcomer-friendly.
3. It takes place earliest, chronologically. It sets up the action and characters of all the following games. Narratively, it makes the most sense to start here. You see where the characters started.
4. The creators used everything they learned in making Yakuza games to make this a great one.
5. This is a very common question asked (including by me) of the guys at YakuzaGAF, and they always tell people, play Yakuza 0 first.
6. Yakuza 0 has additional cutscenes (about 30 minutes worth) that help to make Yakuza Kiwami (1) more understandable. If you play Kiwami first, you won't have that context.
7. Yakuza Kiwami (1) contains about 30 minutes of additional cutscenes, some of which make reference to events in Yakuza 0. If you haven't played 0 first, they won't make much sense.
8. It's a great game and sold me on the series. As a newcomer, I had no troubles understanding it. Perfect entry point, imo.
It's kind of crazy how good the voice acting seems to be considering I don't speak the language lol, they do a great job of conveying emotion, yeah some of it can be over the top at times but overall it just fits what's going on with the visuals.
Yeah, I agree, the voice acting is really good. In the past, I have had a hard time understanding why some people would prefer to play with the original Japanese voices, when they could have English-speaking voice actors and do without subtitles. I get it now. The emotional tone gets carried much better by the Japanese voice actors.