• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Yakuza 5 |OT| Rage Your Dreams

S

Shadowman16

Member
Whoompthereitis said:
Just bought this...how hard is 'hard'?

I recall 'hard' feeling just right on Yakuza 4
Click to expand...

Not having played Yakuza 4 on hard I can''t really compare the two, but hard mode on 5 was pretty easy for me, I was never really in any danger outside the arena and hidden bosses (which is very hard depending on the match up and the character your using).

Its not hard that's for sure, I'd definitely suggest starting it on hard. Thankfully Ishin and Zero seem to feature more aggressive enemies that dealt more damage (Ishin especially, it can be pretty brutal at the beginning of the game on Hard).
 
J

jett

D-Member
13 hours later, I've made it to Chapter 2, and just like with Y4, I'm immediately annoyed that I'm forced to play as another guy that plays completely different, and is completely underpowered. Man. I guess I won't be able to do any more taxi missions until the very end of the game? I've been having a lot of fun so far, but I dislike the way these two games are structured.

Hopefully with Y6 you only play as Kiryu.
 
D

Davilmar

Member
jett said:
13 hours later, I've made it to Chapter 2, and just like with Y4, I'm immediately annoyed that I'm forced to play as another guy that plays completely different, and is completely underpowered. Man. I guess I won't be able to do any more taxi missions until the very end of the game? I've been having a lot of fun so far, but I dislike the way these two games are structured.

Hopefully with Y6 you only play as Kiryu.
Click to expand...

I've never warmed up to the idea of multiple protagonists in my favorite game series, something that kills me with Yakuza 4, 5 and 0. It's the reason why I didn't bother finishing Yakuza 4, and largely the reason why I skipped Yakuza 5. I'm still finishing Yakuza 0, and having only two characters is at least tolerable. I hope you can stay with the game and that it gets better!
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
I like the multiple characters as a way to introduce variety into what has remained a formulaic game series, but I can understand why people wouldn't warm to them. The start of Saejima's part is probably the roughest part of the game, so try to push through out as quickly as you can. Once he gets to the mountain it's a lot of fun.
 
P

PensivePen

Member
I'm coming back to the game after a long hiatus and I only recently found out about the Champion Ring which apparently makes the game a lot more challenging, something it could sorely use, but I'm having trouble finding out how to locate it online. I assume I need to find it for each character as well, can anybody tell me how to get a hold of it?
 
S

Sgblues

Member
Well you can get one for clearing all of Saejima's substories or can just buy them in the underground arena shop, which is always the place for rare and often useful stuff.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Davilmar said:
I've never warmed up to the idea of multiple protagonists in my favorite game series, something that kills me with Yakuza 4, 5 and 0. It's the reason why I didn't bother finishing Yakuza 4, and largely the reason why I skipped Yakuza 5. I'm still finishing Yakuza 0, and having only two characters is at least tolerable. I hope you can stay with the game and that it gets better!
Click to expand...

hosannainexcelsis said:
I like the multiple characters as a way to introduce variety into what has remained a formulaic game series, but I can understand why people wouldn't warm to them. The start of Saejima's part is probably the roughest part of the game, so try to push through out as quickly as you can. Once he gets to the mountain it's a lot of fun.
Click to expand...

In my case I'm more of a lapsed Yakuza fan. Before getting Yakuza 4 on PSN last year, I hadn't played a single game in the series since Yakuza 2. So with Y4 I was kinda disappointed that you don't play much as Kiryu, and then with Y5 I was excited to play as him again at the start! But then it changed characters on me again. :p You're right that the Saejima part got better after the prison (I can't believe they did that shit again after Y4). After being done with Saejima though... This game turned into a j-pop idol simulator.

Dunno about this...
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
jett said:
In my case I'm more of a lapsed Yakuza fan. Before getting Yakuza 4 on PSN last year, I hadn't played a single game in the series since Yakuza 2. So with Y4 I was kinda disappointed that you don't play much as Kiryu, and then with Y5 I was excited to play as him again at the start! But then it changed characters on me again. :p You're right that the Saejima part got better after the prison (I can't believe they did that shit again after Y4). After being done with Saejima though... This game turned into a j-pop idol simulator.

Dunno about this...
Click to expand...

Ha ha, I liked Haruka's section; just wished the rhythm gameplay was more challenging. But if you want to get back to beating people up, Akiyama shows up halfway through the part and is as fun as he was in 4.
 
J

jett

D-Member
hosannainexcelsis said:
Ha ha, I liked Haruka's section; just wished the rhythm gameplay was more challenging. But if you want to get back to beating people up, Akiyama shows up halfway through the part and is as fun as he was in 4.
Click to expand...

It's funny how easily this game wins you over. I was apprehensive about the whole Haruka stuff, but I quickly started getting into it, to the point where I wanted to keep playing as her when Akiyama showed up LOL. It's funny how that portion of that game probably has the most believable plotline in the entire franchise. It also has the two biggest bitches I've seen in a video game holy shit.

Akiyama is all right, but it's such a pain to once again level up and unlock basic moves I already had with the other characters. It's definitely the major problem with how this game handles multiple characters. It's utterly moronic. They need to rethink their entire leveling system if they're gonna have multiple characters again.

Another thing that really affects my experience is the glacial speed of the franchise's overall presentation. Stuff like completely unnecessary text boxes (why do I need to be told what I can do at a save point every time I access one?) and the constant loading times really put a hamper on my experience. I honestly have no idea how I endured the PS2 games. That seems like complete suffering in retrospect. Yakuza 6 seems to be light years ahead in this regard. I'm really quite keen on seeing more footage of that game.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Started Akiyama. Both very sudden and not at all what I expected.
Figured he'd have his own story, not be Haruka's babysitter... guess that explains everyone's disappointment. Park sent up so many death flags that I should've seen it coming.

Also, if anyone has trouble with comedy, I made a mini guide:
1st: That's right. (Y)
2nd: Really? (Y. after 'sugoi ne')
3rd: Hmm. (Y, before 'ne')
4th: You don't say. (Y)
5th: Wow. (Y, check timing)
6th: Nice. (Y)
7th: That's called getting jumped! (Y, fast)
8th: Uh huh. (Y)
9th: Whoa! (Y)
10: Look out.. (Y)
11: Punching bag! (Y, fast)
12: Here we go again. (Y)
13: Wait for it.. (Y)
14: It was a guy!? (Y. fast)
15: You went out with him? (Y, fast)
16: That's enough! (Y)
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
Just finished it. Bought it on day 1 lol, so many games, so little time.

The final fight was BS imo. Ended up dropping it to easy. I considered reloading my save to bring more items and weapons but then I realised that the game hadn't allowed me to save for the past 2 hours so I said fuck it.

Anyway, the game was awesome of course, they did a great job integrating Haruka's story into the overall plot.
Wasn't expecting that last twist, so much for the whole idol thing being out of character for her.
Shinada really grew on me.
The variety in sidequests in these games is something else, when you decide to take one on literally anything can happen, from beating up thugs with a christmas tree dressed as santa, to helping out in a restaurant or doing stand-up comedy.

Now it's time to move on to PS4 and thank god for that, there are some serious issues on the technical side. That Y6 footage has me salivating, especially the absence of loading screens.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
I've been getting back into this. Chapter 2 spoilers.

I'm sorry to say Saejima's part was so boring... wowee, its probably the most boring section of any Yakuza game. (I have not played Dead Souls). I'm on part 4, so it'll probably be over soon, but the prison part and the mountain part were just not enjoyable. It's more disappointing because I absolutely loved Saejima's part in Yakuza 4.
On the flipside, I absolutely loved Kazuma's chapter, I had a big grin over my face the entire time. It was so Kaz to hide out in a new city and keep his new girlfriend from his life.

Im really surprised how long the game is...I usually just play the main story. I'm 15 hrs in and might not be 2/5ths done.

Dragon1893 said:
Now it's time to move on to PS4 and thank god for that, there are some serious issues on the technical side. That Y6 footage has me salivating, especially the absence of loading screens.
Click to expand...

Yep, Y5 doesn't look nearly as good as it did 4 years ago.
 
Go_Ly_Dow

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Yakuza 0 looks really really good imo.

<600p > 1080p.

<30fps > 60fps.

No AA > like 4xMSAA.

+a few other IQ details.

Makes a massive difference.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Wow, the end of Haruka/Akiyama. First plot twist that had me go WTF.

So is Zero going to go into detail on Majima HAVING A WIFE?!
Katsuya is an amazing villain. There's a lot of them, in fact.
 
S

Sgblues

Member
cj_iwakura said:
Wow, the end of Haruka/Akiyama. First plot twist that had me go WTF.

So is Zero going to go into detail on Majima HAVING A WIFE?!
Katsuya is an amazing villain. There's a lot of them, in fact.
Click to expand...



Well going to answer your question:

No, Zero has nothing to do with Majima having a wife or anything do with Mirei Park or Katsuya even though he knew them before Zero takes place in 1988.

To go into further detail about Mirei Park with of course spoilers:

The whole Mirei Park thing is a weird one she was already secretly married to Majima while she was an idol and had become pregnant but decided to get an abortion thinking it would have been best for her career but when he found out he got mad and left her, leaving her with that pen which he gave her as a gift after they had met. Then her agency found out and eventually dropped her after the truth came out and the career that she built up eventually went into the ground and as the years went on living off what funds she still had, she decided to make her own agency Dyna Chair which had some success but she was still dogged by her past and had major competition from the Osaka(or Oosaka) talent agency which was ran by her old friend, Katsuya.

Also her abortion from years ago had caused her to become infertile.

So yeah it remains one of those plotholes that you can chalk up to bad writing as its never resolved or brought up ever again or even hinted at and quite frankly the whole thing could have been omitted and no one would have cared.
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
Sgblues said:
Well going to answer your question:

No, Zero has nothing to do with Majima having a wife or anything do with Mirei Park or Katsuya even though he knew them before Zero takes place in 1988.

To go into further detail about Mirei Park with of course spoilers:

The whole Mirei Park thing is a weird one she was already secretly married to Majima while she was an idol and had become pregnant but decided to get an abortion thinking it would have been best for her career but when he found out he got mad and left her, leaving her with that pen which he gave her as a gift after they had met. Then her agency found out and eventually dropped her after the truth came out and the career that she built up eventually went into the ground and as the years went on living off what funds she still had, she decided to make her own agency Dyna Chair which had some success but she was still dogged by her past and had major competition from the Osaka(or Oosaka) talent agency which was ran by her old friend, Katsuya.

Also her abortion from years ago had caused her to become infertile.

So yeah it remains one of those plotholes that you can chalk up to bad writing as its never resolved or brought up ever again or even hinted at and quite frankly the whole thing could have been omitted and no one would have cared.
Click to expand...

The whole thing is crazy convoluted, but it's clearly an attempt to make sure Haruka's idol career ties directly back to the main Tojo/Omi plot.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Sgblues said:
Well going to answer your question:

No, Zero has nothing to do with Majima having a wife or anything do with Mirei Park or Katsuya even though he knew them before Zero takes place in 1988.

To go into further detail about Mirei Park with of course spoilers:

The whole Mirei Park thing is a weird one she was already secretly married to Majima while she was an idol and had become pregnant but decided to get an abortion thinking it would have been best for her career but when he found out he got mad and left her, leaving her with that pen which he gave her as a gift after they had met. Then her agency found out and eventually dropped her after the truth came out and the career that she built up eventually went into the ground and as the years went on living off what funds she still had, she decided to make her own agency Dyna Chair which had some success but she was still dogged by her past and had major competition from the Osaka(or Oosaka) talent agency which was ran by her old friend, Katsuya.

Also her abortion from years ago had caused her to become infertile.

So yeah it remains one of those plotholes that you can chalk up to bad writing as its never resolved or brought up ever again or even hinted at and quite frankly the whole thing could have been omitted and no one would have cared.
Click to expand...

I find it a very interesting development, since it gives Majima some much-needed depth... but if they don't run with it, then yeah, that's kind of sad.

Shinada's nothing like I expected. Really took a fast liking to him. Dang it, stop making so many great new characters, no one's going to care about Kiryu anymore!
 
S

Son Of Sparda

Member
cj_iwakura said:
I find it a very interesting development, since it gives Majima some much-needed depth... but if they don't run with it, then yeah, that's kind of sad.

Shinada's nothing like I expected. Really took a fast liking to him. Dang it, stop making so many great new characters, no one's going to care about Kiryu anymore!
Click to expand...

Who is Kiryu?
:p
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Funny bit of hypocrisy against the whole 'Pursue Your Dreams!!' theme in a Shinada sidestory...

You can't pursue your dreams if it hurts someone you care about, so just give it up.
 
L

lobdale

3 ft, coiled to the sky
I beat the first chapter before Christmas so I'd have a good point to pick up with Saejima when I got back after break ... then I never did cause I got a PS4 and Rocket League ate my life.

But for whatever reason I opened it up a couple days ago and am now somehow enraptured again with this relatively clunky menu-heavy thing, even loving the story. These games just draw you in.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
The plot twist at the end of Finale 3.
I thought it would be too easy for this game but I guess not. The cop was low-hanging fruit. Come on Nagoshi.
 
Exr

Exr

Member
Ive been a big Yakuza fan since 1 and Ive stopped playing 5 twice now for months at a time, both times giving up at Saejimas prison sections. Finally got out of the jail and now im in the hunting section but Im dreading this Jpop shit as Haruka. Is it a big chunk of the game? Got a feeling Ill never complete 5 if thats the case.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Exr said:
Ive been a big Yakuza fan since 1 and Ive stopped playing 5 twice now for months at a time, both times giving up at Saejimas prison sections. Finally got out of the jail and now im in the hunting section but Im dreading this Jpop shit as Haruka. Is it a big chunk of the game? Got a feeling Ill never complete 5 if thats the case.
Click to expand...

Not really. You can skip almost everything and just do the Princess League story segments. If you're halfway decent at rhythm games, you can skip the dance battles. If you're not, though, you may want to do some of them for practice.

Her story really is important, though. Almost every major character hinges on her plot.

I did all her sidestories, none are really that special, just 'I have friends now! :D' stuff.

Well, I liked the comedy routine one, those were some funny jokes.
 
Q

qualitydisc

Member
I plan to skip straight from Yakuza 3 to Yakuza 5, and plan to go back to 4 later. Bad idea or will I be OK?

I just finished Yakuza 3 last night and it's the only one I've played.

I have a temporary 3 month PSN subscription that I got for free from the PSN security breach settlement. I don't plan to renew it after it expires. So I'm downloading Y5 (it's taken 24 hours so far...) and my plan is to play it while I still have free PSN access to it. I'll go back to 4 later.

So, uh, good idea? bad idea? I don't really want to spend any more $ than necessary.
 
C

Clive

Member
qualitydisc said:
I plan to skip straight from Yakuza 3 to Yakuza 5, and plan to go back to 4 later. Bad idea or will I be OK?

I just finished Yakuza 3 last night and it's the only one I've played.

I have a temporary 3 month PSN subscription that I got for free from the PSN security breach settlement. I don't plan to renew it after it expires. So I'm downloading Y5 (it's taken 24 hours so far...) and my plan is to play it while I still have free PSN access to it. I'll go back to 4 later.

So, uh, good idea? bad idea? I don't really want to spend any more $ than necessary.
Click to expand...

I would say it's a bad idea but it's better than not playing Y5 at all and you should definitely play Y5. Two of the five Y5 characters are introduced and given important backstories in Y4 so you'll miss out on that. It's not absolutely necessary but it will make you understand some people in the game better.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
qualitydisc said:
I plan to skip straight from Yakuza 3 to Yakuza 5, and plan to go back to 4 later. Bad idea or will I be OK?

I just finished Yakuza 3 last night and it's the only one I've played.

I have a temporary 3 month PSN subscription that I got for free from the PSN security breach settlement. I don't plan to renew it after it expires. So I'm downloading Y5 (it's taken 24 hours so far...) and my plan is to play it while I still have free PSN access to it. I'll go back to 4 later.

So, uh, good idea? bad idea? I don't really want to spend any more $ than necessary.
Click to expand...


I'd strongly recommend playing 4, 5 doesn't recap it at all, and some of the events are important to 4(namely Saejima's relationships). You could do without it, but that one in particular is key.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
back in this! i think i'm towards the end of Saejima's stuff, we're planning some kindnapping shit...

just to be sure: ive been told Haruka-chan's section is the only one i can't easily revisit post-game to mop up sidequests is that true? don't know that i'll plat this one, but id hate to be locked out of stuff
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
IrishNinja said:
back in this! i think i'm towards the end of Saejima's stuff, we're planning some kindnapping shit...

just to be sure: ive been told Haruka-chan's section is the only one i can't easily revisit post-game to mop up sidequests is that true? don't know that i'll plat this one, but id hate to be locked out of stuff
Click to expand...

Seems true, but you get a 'are you SUUUUUUUUUUUUURE' you want to move on before finishing her arc, so it seems fairly obvious.

I still missed one, somehow.
 
D

DrunkShogun

Member
Can someone explain to me who the dog is in Kiriyu karaoke song. Couldn't stop laughing at how random it was and wondered if there's some deep lore that I missed.
 
Q

qualitydisc

Member
Clive said:
I would say it's a bad idea but it's better than not playing Y5 at all and you should definitely play Y5. Two of the five Y5 characters are introduced and given important backstories in Y4 so you'll miss out on that. It's not absolutely necessary but it will make you understand some people in the game better.
Click to expand...

cj_iwakura said:
I'd strongly recommend playing 4, 5 doesn't recap it at all, and some of the events are important to 4(namely Saejima's relationships). You could do without it, but that one in particular is key.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, ya'll. I have sort of already resigned myself to playing this series out of order (simply because I started with Y3), but I still haven't decided whether I'll spring for 4 next or not.
 
kamineko

kamineko

Does his best thinking in the flying car
So I finally have a PS3 again, and since I had just discoverred Yakuza (through PS+ Yakuza 4) when my old PS3 broke, I went straight back to the series to resume 4, then play 5 and 3 (I really liked what I played of 4).

Now that I've made it to 5... doesn't the part two mountain stuff seem kind of weird? There's a whole lot of content there, but I don't really feel like doing it all.
 
struggler_guts

struggler_guts

Member
Tried googling and no luck,

But is there anyway to save in the snow village as saejima? It's kind of annoying having to run back to the city to save.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
struggler_guts said:
Tried googling and no luck,

But is there anyway to save in the snow village as saejima? It's kind of annoying having to run back to the city to save.
Click to expand...

i don't believe there is, just checkpoints if you rebuild the forts/houses

it's not too far a walk at least, plus given the cold you're not meant to be out there forever, i guess
 
H

He1nekenP1ss

Member
I'm waiting Akiyama since the start of the game, and now I'm given Haruka to play with.

Meh at first, but her chapter is not bad at all so far!

nuUJIjW.gif
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
i'm in the final chapters! not many sidestories left either, though i didn't do all of Seajima's contract missions.

been loving this as usual (75 hours clocked in so far!), don't think i'm going for the platinum this time...gonna get back to some classic sega shit for a bit & hold my breath till 0 is here!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

My view on the current state of Yakuza
33
2K
Labadal replied
Like A Dragon: Yakuza | Oct 24 | Official Trailer
21
840
EverydayBeast replied
‘Like a Dragon: Yakuza’ Live Action Series Adaptation of Hit Sega Game Heading to Prime Video (EXCLUSIVE)
2
53
3K
Alexios replied
Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Reveal Trailer (Goro Majima as the protagonist; release date February 28, 2025)
News Trailer 2 3 4
153
7K
SyberWolf replied
Like a Dragon creator talks about Sega “flat out rejecting” the first Yakuza game thinking it wouldn’t sell
Game Dev
16
2K
MiguelItUp replied
Top Bottom