Yakuza/Like A Dragon/Judgement Thread Of There's A New Game Couple Of Months

[paprikastaude]

Yes.

[Himu]

4-6? Good luck.

I still liked Okinawa section better than Kamurocho in 3. I had no interest in Kamurocho in 3. Been there, done that. Zzz. Then again I like slow sections of games. So

[kingv]

Yakuza 0 and Kiwami combined is one of my favorite gaming memories and combos.

The only weak part of Yakuza 0, imo, is that they don’t really sell Majimas transformation into his character in Kiwami all that well.

But 0 really does add a lot of context to the story in a Kiwami, and makes the major events in it have more impact.

[Himu]

I’m not the biggest Majima fan. Guy is silly and over the top and good for small gulps. He was best in 1. Mark Hamill did great with him.

[kingv]

That was Mark Hamill?!

Also: Mark hamill speaks Japanese?!

[paprikastaude]

The og PS2 game had an english dub with Mark Hamill and Michael Madsen. 

[Himu]

The dub wasn’t terrible but yeahhhh, mark was the main highlight.

Suffice to say, was amazing playing Yakuza 2 with English subs. Hasn’t been a dubbed yakuza game since 1. And since that bombed they haven’t tried again. I wonder if they’ll start doing it again now that it’s cult status.

[Rahxephon91]

Lets hope they don't.  Yakuza 1's dub was awful.

[Himu]

I mean, that doesn’t mean that another dub would be.

[Rahxephon91]

No one wants to play a Yakuza game in English. That is an idiotic proposition. Especially as the game's faces are photo realistic to the Japanese actors they are displaying and a selling point is that actual Japanese movie actors are in the game. It would be a huge waste of money for Sega and yes the dub would be bad, as they would probably only give it to the same dubbing studios that dub every single anime/anime game out there. It's not like the series is actually big enough to pay for a dub that would move out of the anime dubbing scene. There are hardly any dubbed games with as good voice acting as Yakuza 0 so why even ask for Sega to waste money when the Japanese track is a selling point for the series authenticity?

[Himu]

It isn’t an idiotic proposition because being exclusively in Japanese limits its audience. And as the series grows more popular an English dub will be necessary to get more traction. This doesn’t mean taking out the option play subbed. Unless you want yakuza to remain cult status forever, Sega will have to eventually give it a dub. I expect the next the next game with the new main character will have the biggest push for the series since 1 on ps2 and will have a dub.

[Rahxephon91]

Yakuza is never moving out of cult status. Giving it an English dub is'nt going to all of a sudden make the series sell millions and appeal to more people. If the fact that the game is'nt English voiced is a turn off then you were never going to play the game anyway.

[Bebpo]

I do think it’s funny how they dubbed it to try to make it a big success in the West and if bombed, then they cheaper out and went sub only and it did good.

Talk about Sega USA totally misreading the audience.

[paprikastaude]

What's actually more limiting is that the games are only available in English throughout Europe. Maybe we can talk about dubs after they reach the most basic localisation standards.

[Himu]

I do think it’s funny how they dubbed it to try to make it a big success in the West and if bombed, then they cheaper out and went sub only and it did good.

Talk about Sega USA totally misreading the audience.

Lol

This isn’t what happened at all.

Yakuza 2 bombed even worse than 1 despite being subbed. Yakuza games were in such bad limbo that people waited years for 5 to come out. People weren’t even sure if 5 WAS going to come out in English.

Yakuza has picked up only recently because of 0 and because it was on ps4 and the 360 kids who said ps3 have no game and ignored ps2 games post-2005 finally got a taste of wacky kiryu time. Even then, the numbers aren’t that high.

There is an almost ten year gap between yakuza 2’s release in America and yakuza actually gaining an audience and it sure as fuck wasn’t because yakuza 1 was dubbed.

[Himu]

Yakuza 1 bombed for a multitude of reasons:

- bad trailer. English dub trailer came out a few weeks before the release. SHOTEH FOCK OP turne off people who would have been interested.

- people thought it was gta in Japan. When it wasn’t that they turned off of it. Again, gamer expectations makes head meet desk.

- combat was kind of stiff in 1. Fighting multiple enemies was blah and it didn’t have the more smooth combat that was ironed out in 2.

- demo in OPM was limited. Was just a fight with Yuya iirc and combat in Yak 1 was stiff. Not the best way to show off what Yakuza is about.

- long load times. Just showed the ps2 was showing its age. This was when each battle had an intro of who you were fighting and you had to wait for the actual battle to load like an rpg. Turning off “where’s gta in japan?” people off even more.

- lack of marketing on Sega USA’s part. Not a single commercial despite Hammil and Madsen in the cast.

[Himu]

Aforementioned trailer.

Man, 1 still has the best heat attack animations.



TLDR I’m old

[bork]

Yakuza is really a niche game series made for a niche audience, and considering that, it has done incredibly well.  I do remember it being called the "Japanese GTA" and that was a bad description.  Also disagree on the dub killing any potential sales- it being in English absolutely made sense for the time and a broader audience...but it didn't sell.

It's interesting seeing recent comments that Microsoft and Nintendo now want the series on their consoles- the last time it got ported was the Wii U "HD" versions of 1 and 2, and the game pretty much bombed IIRC.  Sold like sub-2,000 copies the first week.  But obviously times have changed and the series finally started getting popular worldwide recently.  I am surprised that they are localizing the Fist Of The North Star game, however- I expect that to not do well or even bomb outright.  Am glad it's getting an English and physical release, though!

I just hope that we get a physical copy of Yakuza 5 when it gets the "more HD" treatment.  Sucks that it was the lone mainline game in the series to be digital-only.  Limited Run Games tried to get a production run of the PS3 version, but Sega turned them down.    (They recently announced that two PS3 games were coming, and while I doubt it...I keep hoping one of them is Y5 after Sega changed their minds or something, heh)

And please...PLEASE localize the two samurai games, Sega.  And port up the two PSP games too.

[Himu]

Yeah pretty much every game was dubbed back in the day. This was a time when Sony had a mandate. I was so shocked Yakuza 2 could get away being subbed on a Sony system.

However, I’m talking about niche gamers. I remember on gaf when that trailer dropped many who were going to get it didn’t because the dub. Didn’t play a big part in why it didn’t take off but since we agree this is a niche series for a niche audience people on niche gaming enthusiast boards thought the dub was bad enough to make the game a skip.

Lmao they’ll never do the psp games. Samurai games though, I’m expecting a Kenzan port announced soon to ps4.

[bork]

However, I’m talking about niche gamers. I remember on gaf when that trailer dropped many who were going to get it didn’t because the dub. Didn’t play a big part in why it didn’t take off but since we agree this is a niche series for a niche audience people on niche gaming enthusiast boards thought the dub was bad enough to make the game a skip.

I doubt that many people interested in the game didn't end up playing or buying it because of the dub.

Lmao they’ll never do the psp games. Samurai games though, I’m expecting a Kenzan port announced soon to ps4.

With the popularity increasing, I could see them doing an HD port-up on both games.  Whether or not it would be localized is another story. 

[Himu]

Other samurai game came out on ps4 already

[bork]

Other samurai game came out on ps4 already

Sorry, meant both PSP games.

[kingv]

Describing Yakuza as Japanese GTA is inaccurate and yet, it’s hard for me to come up with a better descriptor that’s reasonably succinct.

It’s definitely a niche formula, but I think one of the difficulties people have with it is that it’s a difficult game to understand what it’s like without playing it. I showed Yakuza 0 to a few friends who then immediately bought it on PSN, but they didn’t really have much interest until actually playing it.

Its sort of a weird series, because the sum is definitely greater than its parts. Like none of the systems or story or whatever are really all that amazing on their own, but they come together very well.

[paprikastaude]

Yakuza is an anti-mobbing simulator with karaoke.

[chronovore]

Describing Yakuza as Japanese GTA is inaccurate and yet, it’s hard for me to come up with a better descriptor that’s reasonably succinct.

It’s definitely a niche formula, but I think one of the difficulties people have with it is that it’s a difficult game to understand what it’s like without playing it. I showed Yakuza 0 to a few friends who then immediately bought it on PSN, but they didn’t really have much interest until actually playing it.

Its sort of a weird series, because the sum is definitely greater than its parts. Like none of the systems or story or whatever are really all that amazing on their own, but they come together very well.

"Open-world brawler."

You're welcome.

[Himu]

When the game first came out many players (even bebpo iirc) labeled it an rpg. It had random battles, battle transitions, and experience points used to level up.

[bork]

Describing Yakuza as Japanese GTA is inaccurate and yet, it’s hard for me to come up with a better descriptor that’s reasonably succinct.

It’s definitely a niche formula, but I think one of the difficulties people have with it is that it’s a difficult game to understand what it’s like without playing it. I showed Yakuza 0 to a few friends who then immediately bought it on PSN, but they didn’t really have much interest until actually playing it.

Its sort of a weird series, because the sum is definitely greater than its parts. Like none of the systems or story or whatever are really all that amazing on their own, but they come together very well.

"Open-world brawler."

You're welcome.

"Shen Mue done right."
 

[Himu]

*curls fist like Arthur*

[bork]

 

[kingv]

Describing Yakuza as Japanese GTA is inaccurate and yet, it’s hard for me to come up with a better descriptor that’s reasonably succinct.

It’s definitely a niche formula, but I think one of the difficulties people have with it is that it’s a difficult game to understand what it’s like without playing it. I showed Yakuza 0 to a few friends who then immediately bought it on PSN, but they didn’t really have much interest until actually playing it.

Its sort of a weird series, because the sum is definitely greater than its parts. Like none of the systems or story or whatever are really all that amazing on their own, but they come together very well.

"Open-world brawler."

You're welcome.

I feel like that sort of buckets it in with Hulk Ultimate destruction and/or the prototype games. Maybe something like most Spider-Man games circa 10 years ago or so. It’s not inaccurate, but it’s also not exactly accurate.

In a sense I think it has more in common with GTA in some ways.

[Bebpo]

Welp, helped pick out goofy american clothes for a kid and then played zzz baseball with a bunch of kids on the beach in Y3. Now I think I'm finally going to Kamurocho for real. This is not a good game for when you only have 30-45 mins a day to play.

[kingv]

Baseball in Yakuza 6 is boring as hell too.

That minigame is not the flavor. The only good mini games really are ones where you’re pimping, talking to these instathots, going to the club, or watching porno.

[bork]

Welp, helped pick out goofy american clothes for a kid and then played zzz baseball with a bunch of kids on the beach in Y3. Now I think I'm finally going to Kamurocho for real. This is not a good game for when you only have 30-45 mins a day to play.

IIRC Yakuza 0 already has an easy config file modification that allows you to save anywhere.  The series is already best on PC.

[Bebpo]

Welp, helped pick out goofy american clothes for a kid and then played zzz baseball with a bunch of kids on the beach in Y3. Now I think I'm finally going to Kamurocho for real. This is not a good game for when you only have 30-45 mins a day to play.

IIRC Yakuza 0 already has an easy config file modification that allows you to save anywhere.  The series is already best on PC.

The series actually has a billion save points so you can save like every 5 mins and that's not a problem. I meant more like not much happens in 30-45 mins of Yakuza playing. It's a game that needs a lot of time commitment to feel like you're actually making progress. Which is fine, a lot of rpgs are like that. Just those games are tough to play when you don't have a lot of free gaming time.

Baseball in Yakuza 6 is boring as hell too.

That minigame is not the flavor. The only good mini games really are ones where you’re pimping, talking to these instathots, going to the club, or watching porno.

Yeah, idk. The series has like a million mini-games but most of them are terrible and feel like they spent 3 hours making them. I'd rather have fewer mini-games but good quality ones tbh.

[kingv]

The batting cage  one might be fun but I find it really freaking hard. Same with darts and pool. Like I don’t need a video games to reinforce that  I suck at those things.

Karaoke is not bad though. Some of the videos get really freaking weird with strange costumes and shit.

I sort of liked the one where you bet on women’s wrestling in 0, but it felt pretty random.

Definitely the best ones are Cabaret King and Video Chat for pure comedy value.

[Bebpo]

Ok, once I finalllllllly got to Kamurocho (and by finally, I mean when he said OK I'M FINALLY LEAVING TO MY PLANE...there was still another hour of side-stuff with the couple on the beach, marketing with Haruka, playing hide & seek with the kids), the pacing picked up pretty fast. Just got the base in the bar and off to find one of the 4 boss dudes.

Every.single.mini.game.sucks

Like they introduce CHASES where you dash and jump over objects and can tackle. And it's kinda crappy but ok I guess. But then they use it for RUNNING FROM COPS MINI-GAME and you can't even tell where to go and dudes are grabbing you and it's just all kinds of bullshit. Then there's an easy but zzz section where you have sneak walk by cops on the street.

I'm digging the story, but everything about the gameplay feels kinda so-so. Even the combat feels pretty limited and stale at this point. I'm getting some new moves but they're all really specific context sensitive so the majority of fights are just PPPPK over and over while R1+X strafe dodging and grabbing whatevers around to hit with.

Hmmm, just looked at the wiki for the first time and man I missed a lot of sidequests in Okinawa. Good thing it seems like they aren't chapter limited. Will use the guide once I go back in Okinawa and will use it for Kamurocho for sidequest hunting. I forgot how hidden sidequests are in these games.

[Himu]

Yakuza 3 sucks

Play 0.

[Bebpo]

Yakuza 3 sucks

Play 0.

But the story is pretty good and Okinawa is chill.

[Himu]

I told you okinawa was chill. Yakuza and sleepy atmosphere just fits  really, really well.

[Himu]

the combat in rgg3 never gets better btw.

i just mashed pppkk or whatever the whole game. 1 and 2 required far more maximization of game systems and moves and had a much better difficulty.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, that's a bummer. The combat in the samurai ones were shallow but at least had more variety than this.

Also you can stop telling me to play 0. That's the next RGG/Yakuza game I will play after 3.

[Himu]

Sorry

[Valkyrie]

Never played Yakuza before but I really wanna try 0.

[bork]

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bet you thought this was going to say "Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well, it does.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bebpo, you need to play Yakuza 0.

[close]

[close]

"

[close]

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[paprikastaude]

Never played Yakuza before but I really wanna try 0.

Get it.

[Valkyrie]

I bought it. We lit, bois.

[Bebpo]

I'm enjoying Y3's gameplay a lot more now that I'm focusing on collecting and doing sidequests while just life-sim-ing around town doing various activities. A lot of the side quests are great, too bad you need to use a faq/wiki to find them all.

The bowling mini-game while having absolutely terrible physics, is sorta fun in a I-love-all-bowling-games-since-NES-days kinda way. Almost got a Turkey, ended up with a 48 in 3-frame and beat the dude working there which was fun. The split mini-game where you have to take down as many splits as possible in 10 balls is some bullshit with these physics though lol

The batting mini-game is also, not amazing, but pretty alright. I like how there's a digital video of a real pitcher doing the throw right before the ball shoots out. I never went to any batting cages in Japan but if they're all like that, it's pretty next-level compared to the stuff I grew up on here in the states. Especially if they have the crazy stuff in this game where you hit different numbers and things to unlock a target for higher points.

It's been a while since I played a RGG/Yakuza game, so I'm starting to get back in the groove of how to really enjoy these games. The moment to moment gameplay isn't perfect and is often kinda janky, but if you're going around doing lots of stuff and immersing yourself it's a really fun experience.

[Bebpo]

So I was curious to see what cities the rest of the Yakuza games use, since I stopped following the mainline ones after 3.

So like:
1 is Tokyo
2 adds Osaka
3 adds (small) Okinawa
4 is only Kamurocho ()
5 adds Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya
6 adds Hiroshima
0 is 80s Tokyo & Osaka

So, uh, what’s up with 4? It’s literally an entire long ass game in only Kamurocho? That sounds whack.

How big are the non-kamurocho cities in 5&6? Osaka size was fine in 2, but man Okinawa is super small in 3.

[paprikastaude]

4 has rooftops and undergrounds which they then cut again for later games.

[Bebpo]

4 has rooftops and undergrounds which they then cut again for later games.

That doesn’t really sound as interesting as a new city.

[Himu]

4 has rooftops and undergrounds which they then cut again for later games.

That doesn’t really sound as interesting as a new city.

4 stars multiple characters so it makes up for it

[Bebpo]

Damn, was reading around for Y3 missables, because 2 of the camera blog moves that are supposed to be available aren’t there for me right now, and stumbled upon a major spoiler that sucks.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I saw a comment that Rikiya dies in the end ;_;

He’s my favorite new character in the series. I really like him. Bummed that he doesn’t make it through this one ;_; I was thinking he’d make a cool playable character in a later game.

[close]

[Himu]

I mean, no different than Shinji. Any time Kiryu has a young upstart with him is bad news for that guy.

[Bebpo]

Getting kind of burnt out on the substories in Y3. Been catching up on the 50ish substories from the first 2 chapters in Kamurocho and even though most are short, it’s a lot. Plus some have requirements to trigger them. Haven’t advanced the main story in a few days, just doing 5-10 sidequests per session. Down to about 20 left and once I hit ch.7 another 20ish are added. /sigh

I think I was around 10-12 hours at the start of Ch.6, and now I’m 20 hours+

Some are great, some are basically fight some punks. Series could definitely do with a bit of fat trimming.

Main reason I feel compelled to do them now instead of post main story is they pay out good XP and help me level my skills and get new abilities.

But yeah, after doing these last 20 in ch.6 I may just say fuck it and stick to the main story, at least until I’m back in Okinawa and do the Okinawa quests at least.

[Bebpo]

So I was up last night and curious about how things improve in game design, ui design, combat design, graphics-design as the series progressed from Y3 onwards. Watched some videos and read reviews of all the games that came after that. My takeaway is that Y4 is basically just Y3 repackaged with 4 main characters and everything that's weak about Y3 will be weak in Y4 except combat should be a bit better with the 4 characters.

Then it sounds like Y5 improves with a new engine. So improves the graphics, improves the UI (quicker into/out of random street battles, thank god I like the wind-up intros for bosses or story stuff but there's so many goddamn street encounters [encounter rate is way too high in Y3 on the street] and the animations are zzz), adds lots of new locations and new gameplay ideas and does a bit more with the Y4 characters and combat. It seems super lengthy and bloated, but a strong improvement over Y3/Y4. I think I read they start voicing more of the game from Y5 onwards.

Then Y0 sounds hot shit, a bit shorter/smaller, but refinement of Y5's UI improvements and graphics & engine, good story/pacing.

Then Y6 comes in with a new engine again, this time combat is changed up and supposed to be pretty awesome, nice graphics, no loads, fully voiced. Sounds good.

And Kiwami 1 basically just sounds like Y0 with RGG1 story, and Kiwami 2 is refinement of Y6 engine/improvements with RGG2 story.


Coming from all that...I'm not going to play Y0 next. Sorry Cindi. I think going back to Y4 after Y0 would be pretty bad and frustrating to get through. It sounds like at the end of the day now that RGG1&2 have been remade with more modern gameplay, that 3&4 are gameplay/ui/graphics/presentation-wise now the low parts of the series. So I think it's better for me to get through Y3 and then play Y4 (and probably play Y5) before Y0 and then Y6. I think playing them in the order released will let me appreciate the improvements the team keeps making year after year.

Right now I'm not interested in playing Kiwami 1&2 because I already played those stories. But after I finish Y6 (and Fist of the North Star Yakuza) and there's no "new" stories I'll probably go back and play Kiwami 1&2 which should both hold up fine a couple years down the line.

Apparently Y4 PS4 is coming in the fall (no release date yet, so probably late fall), and Y5 PS4 in Spring 2019 (so then I'd play Y0 next summer, Y6 in the fall), so that sounds like a good spacing to play the series. Trying to play these games more than one every 3-6 months is easy burnout.

[Himu]

5’s story isn’t that great and the series gets long winded after 3. 3 for all intents and purposes should have been the last Kiryu game. The stories get more and more dumb are further away from what made 1 and 2 stories great. The reason 0 gets so much praise is because it’s a return to form on the quality that was in 1 and 2. I think the series experiences a massive quality downgrade as time goes on but hey, you might disagree. You’re free to form your own opinion.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Just wait for Kiwami 4.

[Bebpo]

5’s story isn’t that great and the series gets long winded after 3. 3 for all intents and purposes should have been the last Kiryu game. The stories get more and more dumb are further away from what made 1 and 2 stories great. The reason 0 gets so much praise is because it’s a return to form on the quality that was in 1 and 2. I think the series experiences a massive quality downgrade as time goes on but hey, you might disagree. You’re free to form your own opinion.

That sentence doesn't make sense. Even though 0 is a prequel it still comes in the scheme of development that goes 3->4->5->Isshin -> Y0 -> Kiwami 1 -> Y6 -> Kiwami 2.

From what I'm getting from you is that when it hits Y0 the series gets back to being good again after 3->4->5 being long winded and the stories going downhill.
But if Y0 is the team getting back on the right track, and the games continue to introduce improvements in everything non-story each game, shouldn't that mean Y6 continues that?

Or are you saying the team has been downhill for the last 10 years and they got lucky with Y0 and it's just the one game that is good.

Also even if Y5/Y6's stories are not that good, just having improvements in the gameplay will go along way for me. While I like good stories, I'm ok with bad stories that are entertaining with good gameplay. Like one of my biggest issues with Y3 is the combat is not satisfying/fun. The fights are too short, enemies too easy, and moveset is too limited. So it's just a hurdle in the way of the side stories/main stories. So I'm looking forward to the combat starting to change up from Y4 onwards each game.

[Bebpo]

Also when I was reading reviews of all the games, including Kiwami 2, everything about Kiwami 2 sounds GREAT except wtf they cut the Shinsekai map entirely because they didn't have the time/budget to remake it in modern graphics. That sucks hard. It's a small map but it's a pretty iconic part of Osaka that was cool to have in RGG/Y2:



Seems like the only stain on an otherwise great game with Kiwami 2.

[Himu]

I haven’t played 6 and I have no interest in playing it so I can’t compare it to 0.

I’m not saying the games are even bad or that they had a ten year dry period. Do you still play Ace Attorney games? Well let’s make a similar analogy. How many times do I have to play as Phoenix Wright? What changed in continuity and story are there? How much longer can they keep this up? You have games that at one point had a reason to exist turn into milk cash cows that feel been there, done that to the point of deja vu. And while I won’t begrudge anyone can stomach these games for more than its alleged 10, 11? entries, it comes to a point where we should ask how much longer should I play these games if the only reason it seems to exist is for Sega to have a regular milk cow and to fund Nagoshi’s travel expenses so he can fuck beautiful women and get skin cancer inducing tans every year? If you’re a die hard (and who am I to judge? I love Musou), maybe you can stomach it. But I can’t, and even I’m a big fan.

Sometimes it’s best to let things die.