Yakuza Games Catch All

Rezzy wrote:

Yakuza 0 is currently $4.39 on Fanatical and having never played a Yakuza game I am both tempted and weary.

Thoughts?

IMAGE(https://i.gifer.com/2HRR.gif)

Go for it. Set it to easy if you get tired of working the combat system, but the stories are fun and so are the umpteen side activities.

... Yeeah. Pretty sure this game and I are going to have a good time together. Thanks for the encouragement! Playing mouse and keyboard at the moment but getting the feeling that controller might be easier for moving between combat poses.

Finished 5. As far as differing content I've never played a game like it. It's like 5 games in one. Very enjoyable if you can ignore the tedious by now problematic elements that sadly dog all Yakuza games. I loved playing as a pop idol.

As far as story goes......lets just say the journey is more fun than the destination.

When I got to the final boss I was like...

Spoiler:

what? Who's that?......Oh that guy? Huh. The big bad even admits he has no idea why he is there in a cut scene.

Just had a super weird bug in YK. In the bowling game, putting spin on the ball just... stopped working. Neither I or the opponent could spin the ball at all. I figure restarting the game should fix it but haven't tried yet. I think it might have been caused by switching from controller to KB and back again, but it's still really weird that the computer opponent would be unable to spin as well.

It made the game easier because I could compensate for a bad direction while I think the CPU opponent relies on spin as part of its game.

Just started 6 and the jump in gameplay is huge. Save anywhere. Being able to jump over obstacles in the streets. No pauses when entering most buildings. Being able to add waypoints on the map. I can see why they chose this engine for 0.

Chapter 2 and I've already had several "WTF am I playing?!" moments.
Last night I was crushing zombies to allow a *wink wink* Michael Jackson clone to Moonwalk along a street while *wink wink* Stephen Spielberg records a music video. That mission interrupted me running to all the convenience stores to shop for specific types of booze for a group of homeless entrepreneurs. Then I beat some juveniles with a motorcycle until the money fell out.

Trying to balance my urge to just keep running through the streets harvesting thugs and pushing forward to unlock more mechanics.

Just hit chapter 4 in Like a Dragon. Went from being reallly annoyed with Ichiban to kinda loving the guy. Are all the games this good at laying out their stories?

Daaaamn

Spoiler:

Pocket Circut Fighter got old!

The official Judgment Twitter has been posting video clips that appear to be unrelated to the original Judgment game. As such, belief that there will be a sequel announced on May 7th has increased.

Here's a compilation of the clips (which seem to be without sound):

So in today’s session of Like a Dragon, I got the “Pokeman” game and the “Poundtown” ability. God I am loving this.

Still playing 6. I've been looking everywhere for the last 2 mystery drinks but no luck so far.

Babies, man.

Babies.

This game is so insane and I love it.

Just Platinumed Kiwami this afternoon, gonna give Judgement a shot. Legendary mode was so much nicer than Zero, since you can play it in NG+ and have the Tiger Drop and Golden Pistol from the start, plus items that never let your heat drop. That car chase was still a Female Doggo, though. Failing the chase and it causing me to have to restart the entire chapter and suffer through 3 big, annoying fights about 20 times was just bad design.

Lost Judgment confirmed for September 24th, 2021 for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

You can see some additional gameplay in the full "Judgment Day" promotion, where Yagami seems to have gotten some upgrades. There's (far more?) parkour going on, he's able to kick litter at the heads of those he gives chase to, there are distraction options in stealth modes, and he gets an additional Snek combat style. As the story will take him under cover to a high school, he'll also get to participate in Robot Wars competitions, boxing, and, of course, leading a bunch of high school girls in dance choreography practice.

Didn't get to watch the full video, so I dunno what the Q&A session covered. It has been confirmed that the mainline Yakuza series shall continue to be a turn-based RPG from now on, or (and this part is my assumption) as long as Ichiban is the protagonist. As such, Judgment continues the more traditional action-based gameplay of the franchise.

Am hype.

The Yakuza Series Will Remain a Turn-Based RPG Series Going Forward

Ryu ga Gotoku Studios has officially announced Lost Judgment today, a sequel to its action-mystery 2018 title. For fans who miss Ryu ga Gotoku’s action-style, Judgment will be the franchise that carries that torch as Yakuza transitions into a turn-based RPG.
In an interview with IGN ahead of today’s reveal Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Kazuki Hosokawa confirmed that Judgment will be Ryu ga Gotoku’s action series pillar, while Yakuza evolves into a turn-based RPG after the success of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Just beat Yakuza 0. I enjoyed it but with some big issues. The combat was pretty mediocre. And the ending was well awful. I'm probably a minority in that view. But the finale chapter was just bad. Like it was made by committee then welded onto the first game.

Had good fun otherwise.

This game is such a weird mix. On the one side is this Yakuza power struggle semi serious story. On the other side I just caught a Marlin and a Great White Shark fishing off a pier after buying smut out of a vending machine for a child while secretly being observed by my secretary.
Earlier in the day I beat up a guy that had to cut off a finger because I spoiled his scam that would have netted him a share of 10 million yen. Now it's evening, my friends are still recovering in the bar from their beatdown, and I'm casually pulling in over 50 million yen per collection cycle from the Leisure district every few minutes.

Well, you're deep in the Yakuza environment now, Rezzy! That cycle never stops

Dotcombatant. Hahahahaha, I love the puns in this game.

Also karaoke. I miss karaoke so much, even doing it in this game was just amazing.

Finished 6. It was fun. Kind of a somber ending. Having played all the main Kiryu games now I'd have to say that 0 is the best followed by the remade 1 & 2.

I think they are all worth playing though. It's tough to say what order it's worth playing.

On the one hand 0, 1 and 2 set up a lot of story and characters that make events in the following games really resonate. On the other 0 is so good it can make 3,4,5 and even 6 a little pale in comparison.

Taking a break from Yakuza now to cleanse my pallet with the excellent Hand of fate 2.

Shareholder meetings. f*ck. I think the last time I was that tense in a video game, I was in an Assault Gunboat with my shields out surrounded by eight A-Wings in TIE Fighter. Christ.

Did MUCH better with shareholder meetings today. Not only did I not know I could pause last time, but I took a picture of the color wheel on my phone so I could look at it even while paused. At one point my brain reversed the colors so I was losing, but I eventually worked through that, and just got in the top 50, which was VERY satisfying.

Hype for Lost Judgment, increasing.

I haven’t gotten around to playing Judgement yet but that looked like Isezaki Ijincho. Hopefully that will take over as the main setting for both series now.

OMG YOU GUISE WE'RE THE NUMBER ONE BUSINESS IN YOKOHAMA. YAY!

Man what a thrilling minigame. Who knew business could be so thrilling?

It's dawning on me now that Yakuza is an annual franchise at this point, isn't it?

I've just recently started Like A Dragon and it's got me thinking - each game makes Kamurocho more and more detailed. I struggle to think of another equivalent in gaming. Like, Hyrule has Death Mountain, but the Death Mountain of The Legend of Zelda is completely different from the one in Ocarina of Time, which is completely different from the one in Breath of the Wild. On the other hand, Kamurocho is Kamurocho, just potentially decades apart in setting, and with better hardware to portray it.

What other game has lasted this long and had such a consistent interpretation of its setting? I can't think of any.

I can't think of any that would get away with it. That's the weird thing about the Yakuza series. It has become an annual franchise at this stage, it recycles assets constantly, and yet charges $60 per title. Even the CoD and Assassin's Creed games never recycled this much content.

I think the reason Yakuza gets away with it is 1) the familiarity with Kamurocho is kind of the point. It's your town, and therefore knowing it like the back of your hand is part of the thematic experience. 2) there are a ton of new mini-games between each title, so while mahjong and the like are still present in each game, you never know if you're going to be racing RC cars, drones, or go-karts, as well as some other potential items. 3) the combat system seems to see minor or major adjustments from game-to-game. 4) They are frequently introducing new zones, so it's not all recycled content. 5) The story and side quests, I think, are really the main draw.

The only thing – only thing – I wish they'd do is figure out ways to better tone down the disruptive goon fights when strolling around town. That's the only thing that seems to have persisted since the game's inception.

There's an interesting story out that Lost Judgement may be the last in the Judgement series because SEGA wants to release the games on PC, while the talent agency representing Takuya Kimura does not. I'm not too familiar with how celebrity talent agencies work over there but it seems like an odd situation that I hope they're able to resolve.