Assuming you didn't make it out to one of the recent retailer demo events, your first chance at zombie Yakuza will come tomorrow (March 3). Sega announced today that a demo will be available for download via PlayStation Store.
The demo appears to be identical to the retail demo. You'll take control of Shun Akiyama, one of the game's four main characters, and sample the game's Gun Shot Battle system. You'll also get to experience team battles with a partner character, and play spots like the hostess club and Gerry's Boot Camp.
The demo takes up 1.74 gigabytes, so be sure and clear some hard drive space!
I'll give the demo a run to check out the shooting mechanics, but man, every RGG demo so far on PS3 has been shit, so I'm not expecting much out of this. RGG apparently doesn't translate to demo format at all.
btw, is Of the End online co-op?
I tried the demo and yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I forgot how janky RGG is.
The camera is pretty iffy and moreover the R2 free aim is like "did they even play their own game once?". I tried the shooting gallery and umm, how is it even possible to get an A rank? If you tap the analogue in a direction the aim moves like 5 feet in that direction. Trying to move from one target to another to get headshots is basically impossible thanks to the ridiculous sensitivity of the analogue aiming. Thankfully it seems you really don't have to aim in the actual game, but you still have to deal with pointing the camera actual at the enemies in front of you. Also there seems to be some issues where you kick someone with O when you want to pick up an object with O. I'm sure it'll be playable, and shooting zombies is fun, but yeah, it controls about as well as I expected a gun shooting game by J-devs to control :\
And I'd forgotten how the graphics are really really freaking bad in Kenzan/RGG3/4. I hate how this engine has this gross low-res look to everything in the environment that's more than 10 feet away. Cutscenes look nice as always though.
Will probably play it someday, but this demo reminded me of how janky the series is; probably because they keep making the games in 1 year.
Ahem sir but Vanquish.
Also, the gross low-res look to everything in the environment that's more than 10 feet away is merely being accurate to the reality of Kabukicho, which has actually gotten worse of late and has clouds of filth hanging in the air, obfuscating the view of anyone who isn't a transvestite hooker.
I tried the demo and yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I forgot how janky RGG is.
The camera is pretty iffy and moreover the R2 free aim is like "did they even play their own game once?". I tried the shooting gallery and umm, how is it even possible to get an A rank? If you tap the analogue in a direction the aim moves like 5 feet in that direction. Trying to move from one target to another to get headshots is basically impossible thanks to the ridiculous sensitivity of the analogue aiming. Thankfully it seems you really don't have to aim in the actual game, but you still have to deal with pointing the camera actual at the enemies in front of you. Also there seems to be some issues where you kick someone with O when you want to pick up an object with O. I'm sure it'll be playable, and shooting zombies is fun, but yeah, it controls about as well as I expected a gun shooting game by J-devs to control :\
And I'd forgotten how the graphics are really really freaking bad in Kenzan/RGG3/4. I hate how this engine has this gross low-res look to everything in the environment that's more than 10 feet away. Cutscenes look nice as always though.
Will probably play it someday, but this demo reminded me of how janky the series is; probably because they keep making the games in 1 year.
Ahem sir but Vanquish.
Also, the gross low-res look to everything in the environment that's more than 10 feet away is merely being accurate to the reality of Kabukicho, which has actually gotten worse of late and has clouds of filth hanging in the air, obfuscating the view of anyone who isn't a transvestite hooker.
Also, my wife walked in the room while I was playing the demo and was like "Why are you fighting zombies in Kabukicho? Is that your stupid rugokucrap or whatever series?"
Disaster Report 4 cancelled :(Fucking Shit!
Toshihiro Nagoshi on Yakuza Of the End's Delay
Yakuza mastermind Toshihiro Nagoshi has made a blog post about Yakuza Of the End's delay.
Unlike Sega's announcement, he admits that the decision was made with consideration for the current post earthquake state. He began to consider the delay after canceling the weekend demo events immediately after the Friday disaster.
"I believe the day will come when I will be able to deliver this product to the world," writes Nagoshi.
Hmm... maybe this is going to be more than a short one week delay.
Wacky jappy zombie apocalypse delayed due to non-wacky jappy actual apocalypse.
Also, my wife walked in the room while I was playing the demo and was like "Why are you fighting zombies in Kabukicho? Is that your stupid rugokucrap or whatever series?"
Like most of this week's delays, Yakuza Of the End's delay was pretty last minute. So last minute, in fact, that the retailer which broke news of the delay just ahead of Sega's formal announcement said that some shipments had already entered the channels and would have to be pulled by Sega.
Sega apparently hasn't gotten around to that. These pics of packaged copies popped up today at that very retailer:
The second image is of the game's bonus karaoke song disk.
The retailer received 60 copies. They'll be sending them back to Sega.
In other Of the End news, series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi made a blog post today thanking fans for all the comments he received after announcing the game's delay earlier in the week at his blog.
(I summarized the original blog post, but can't link to it yet because my publishing system is broken. You can see it on this page).
In today's post, Nagoshi noted that it was difficult to delay the game because the team had great pride in having not missed a release date once with the past series titles. "However this time the team selected a different pride," he said.
"We were in many meanings awestruck as we watched television for the past few days. But now everything is okay. We will continue to run forward."
"These past few days, I once again felt how many people love and support this title. Kazuma Kiryu must be a happy person."
(Kazuma Kiryu is the series' main character -- the guy on the CD's box in the above image.)
Yakuza Of the End was originally scheduled for release on March 18, but Sega delayed the game following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Today, Sega announced a new date: June 9. Pricing remains the same, ¥7,980.
There's been a slight change to the game's packaging following the delay. The first print run of the game will include a sticker that says "Ryu ga Gotoku Ganbaro, Nippon!"
Sega also revealed that a portion of sales will go to the Japan Red Cross to aid in quake recovery efforts.
Apocalicious! Day one for English version
Geez I gotta get around to playing Yak 4
Apocalicious! Day one for English version
Geez I gotta get around to playing Yak 4
I gotta get around to playing Yak 1-4.
Pretty janky and a big departure from past RGG titles,
This game was a pretty big disappointment for me. It's definitely more of an arcade-ish spin-off, Don. It has all the extra activities and shit but you can only do them in certain chapters at certain times. The controls are definitely weak, and the only way the game survives it is by being piss-easy.
Oh and Gundam, how did you miss that Billy Blanks guy in the last two RGG games? Haha.