• 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 Community Thread - FEEL THE HEAT!

Past

Member
I hate the way they've been advertising Yakuza 0 in the West. Why do they only focus on violence in the trailers? They should just take the Japanese trailers and upload them at this point.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I hate the way they've been advertising Yakuza 0 in the West. Why do they only focus on violence in the trailers? They should just take the Japanese trailers and upload them at this point.

There hasn't been truly great marketing in the US since Yakuza 4.

BRING HIM BACK, HARDIN.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Ryu Ga Gotoku 6 PS4 bundle announced at about 3.5 man yen (Sorry I don't remember the exact price. It is cheaper than buying them separately).

And also, limited edition RGG6 model PS4 announced and will be available for pre-order tomorrow 10am at sony store(?).

edit: found images.
ws001098.jpg

ws001186.jpg


edit2: someone uploaded last night's sega live streaming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBTNcexT4Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlrlil1Noko
 

atlusprime

Atlus PR
I hate the way they've been advertising Yakuza 0 in the West. Why do they only focus on violence in the trailers? They should just take the Japanese trailers and upload them at this point.

Still working on dialing it in. Don't worry tho, we've got plenty of time to go until launch. Also, FWIW, I've passed this along to our video team to ensure that there's a broader scope for trailers in the future.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Still working on dialing it in. Don't worry tho, we've got plenty of time to go until launch. Also, FWIW, I've passed this along to our video team to ensure that there's a broader scope for trailers in the future.

Can you find that Yakuza 4 commercial narrator?

Please?


Also, I liked the tone of the Majima one, and that it used the JP install theme. Good stuff.


Another idea is to do a retro style 80s advertisement, given the setting.
 

deadfolk

Member
Am I the only one who deliberately takes forever to play through the Yakuza games to savour them, just in case we never get any more in the west?

I'm still on Kaz's chapter in 5!
 

Jimrpg

Member
Man Yakuza 5 is long! I'm at Part 4, chapter 3 and I just realized there's a finale with 4 more chapters so it's going to take ages to get thru. I'm at 30 hrs right now.
 
Hi Yakuza GAF, quick question.

I only played Y1 waaay back on the PS2 but will get Yakuza 0 in Jan. I own Y4 and Y5 on PS3, so if I could only play one (because I won't realistically play both) before that, which one? Or will I be completely lost anyway? Thanks :)
 
Hi Yakuza GAF, quick question.

I only played Y1 waaay back on the PS2 but will get Yakuza 0 in Jan. I own Y4 and Y5 on PS3, so if I could only play one (because I won't realistically play both) before that, which one? Or will I be completely lost anyway? Thanks :)

Well both games have self contained stories, so you could really play either. 4 is cool because there is one particular story thread that ties Akiyama into the first games story so you may get a kick from that. 5 has the more content and has some of my favourite set pieces in the game (some epic battles). 4 seems to be favoured more on this forum compared to 5, but I'd probably suggest 5 since I just love all the content in the game including stuff like Virtua Fighter 2, taxi driving, hunting, Haruka's music section etc. You really can't go wrong with either.
 
Hi Yakuza GAF, quick question.

I only played Y1 waaay back on the PS2 but will get Yakuza 0 in Jan. I own Y4 and Y5 on PS3, so if I could only play one (because I won't realistically play both) before that, which one? Or will I be completely lost anyway? Thanks :)
Shadowman16 is a very cool dude, but don't listen to his opinion this time lol

But seriously I think you might get confused if you start with 5. I recommend Y4 since it introduces three new protags and the story mostly revolves around them. It also has recap videos in its menu that you can use to catch-up to the past titles in the series.

And one a personal note, I liked the story of Y4 a lot more than Y5 :)

Either way, it's good to see more people being interested in Yakuza series. Whatever entry you choose to play first, I hope that you enjoy it. Also, don't hesitate to ask questions here if you had any.
 
Shadowman16 is a very cool dude, but don't listen to his opinion this time lol

But seriously I think you might get confused if you start with 5. I recommend Y4 since it introduces three new protags and the story mostly revolves around them. It also has recap videos in its menu that you can use to catch-up to the past titles in the series.

And one a personal note, I liked the story of Y4 a lot more than Y5 :)

Either way, it's good to see more people being interested in Yakuza series. Whatever entry you choose to play first, I hope that you enjoy it. Also, don't hesitate to ask questions here if you had any.

Good point about the protags, somehow that skipped my mind when I replied (my excuse is its been so long since I played Yakuza 4 that I don't remember it well, I really must do that replay sometime soon!)
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Hi Yakuza GAF, quick question.

I only played Y1 waaay back on the PS2 but will get Yakuza 0 in Jan. I own Y4 and Y5 on PS3, so if I could only play one (because I won't realistically play both) before that, which one? Or will I be completely lost anyway? Thanks :)

You should play Y4 and Y5 in order instead and skip Y0 ;p

Well I think Y4 is the better choice. Majima and his best friend's backstory is told in Y4. The event happened prior to Y0 and Majima mentioned it vaguely here and there in Y0 without good explanations for new players.
 
Phew, it's finally done. Its probably full of typos, needs to be edited heavily and trimmed down a lot, bu still its done!

Please read and give me your opinions on this. I'm fully open to any corrections (from people who have played and finished the Japanese version) and to any suggestions from everyone.

Gameplay in Yakuza series

Well, now that you are a bit more familiar with the series, it’s time to go a little deeper into how it actually plays. Are you ready? Okay, here goes.

Gameplay in Yakuza series is consistent of two major parts. Exploration and Combat.

First off let’s start with exploration. Like most JRPGs the majority of your time in Yakuza series will be spent exploring the environment. During these parts you can pick up side quests, go to arcades, take part in any number of (many available) mini-games and activities, visit shops, buy items and gears etc. While you are exploring, there will be some unlucky guys/punks who try to pick a fight with you. You can avoid them if you are a little careful but if they manage to get a hold of you then you go into combat.

Now let’s explain the combat. The battles in Yakuza series can happen in one of two ways. I explained the first one above. The second form is the obvious one, which is when you follow the story and get into fights/boss battles that way. There is a third way which is the Coliseum (an arena in which you can go to fight and gain ranks and such) but that’s kind of an activity so it’s mostly optional.

Anyway, let’s get down to how combat actually plays. You have three main attack buttons in the combat. Square for light attacks (LA), Triangle as strong attacks (SA) and Circle as Grab (G). You can also use Cross to Dodge attacks and readjust your position in battle and one of the shoulder buttons is Guard.

There is possible to chain attacks by combining LA and SA. Also you can use G not only to grab on enemy but pick up weapons and fight with those. As you fight and progress through battles you gain XP which eventually lead to leveling up and giving you Soul Points. Use these points to unlock new attacks, defense options such as parry, better health, expand your heat bar and even gain new heat moves.

Wait, did I explain Heat? No? Well, silly me. In Yakuza series beneath your health bar, you have another bar called Heat bar. Heat fills as you beat up punks and chain attacks without getting hit. Once the Heat bar reaches a certain amount your character starts emitting a blue aura. This means that you are ready to give the next level of beating to these punks in the form of heat moves. Heat moves are short powerful contextual attacks that you can pull off only when you have enough heat and are in certain situations. When the conditions have been met you’ll see a small Triangle button prompt at the right corner of your screen, signaling that you can initiate the heat move by pushing the button right now.

Heat moves vary a lot. From smashing a dude’s face into the wall and then kicking it once again just to be sure, all the way to smacking grizzly bears with your super punches.

While the Heat moves are pretty crazy and awesome, it needs noting that these are still optional moves and in a lot of situations you don’t even need to use them. So, if you hate losing control of your character (even for a little bit) and would rather just continue with the raw combat, then you can just do that.

Anyway, these were the basics of gameplay in Yakuza series. Now, if you are still not tired of reading my rants I thank you and say that next up we are gonna go over what exactly is new in Yakuza 0, when it comes to combat.

What’s new in Yakuza 0's combat?

Well the basics that we explained above almost all apply here as well but there are some big changes in this game that we’ll try to go over them now. By far the biggest change in Yakuza 0 is the Style system that has been introduced for the first time (and probably the last, going by Yakuza 6) in the main series.

By now you must know that Yakuza 0 has two playable characters. Kazuma Kiryu the main protagonist of the series, and the Mad Dog Goro Majima, the long time badass support character of the series that everyone wanted to play as for years.

In Yakuza 0 each of these characters have three different play styles which you can switch in between them, real time in midst of battle using D-Pad. Now, let’s go over each style and tell a little bit about them.

We’ll start with Kiryu since he has been series protag for a long time. Kiryu has three styles which are called Brawler, Rush and Beast.

Brawler (Blue): This is the blue colored style in which Kiryu’s fighting is most similar to his earlier iterations in past titles. While it plays very good the actual moves and animations make you feel like you are actually playing as a lot less refined Kiryu in his 20s. Most of your heat moves are available in this style and it has a balance between quickness and strength. Also, you can pick up and use weapons in this style.

Rush (Pink): This is by far the quickest style in the game. Kiryu’s attacks are a lot faster but don’t really pack a punch. Guard in this style has been replaced by a quick instill dodge that lets you avoid the incoming attacks and immediately go back to landing hits. A very cool feature in this style is that as your heat bar goes up your speed actually increases with it. So the fights in this style could become really fast and fluid.

Beast (Yellow): Well, it’s in the name. Your attacks and general movements are a lot slower this time but they pack a hell of a punch. You can imagine Kiryu to be like a grizzly bear in this style. You won’t even have a guard option in this style and instead the guard button lets Kiryu just takes in the hits (and stand still like they are nothing) and get heat from them. Also a very cool feature of this style is that Kiryu just naturally picks up on things and use them when you are beating up the fools who have dared to fight you. It really feels natural and both enjoyable to see and play.

Now, let’s go over to Majima and his three styles which are called Thug, Slugger and Breaker. The names alone should tell how much crazier this character is.

Thug (Blue): This is basically the equivalent of Kiryu’s Brawler style, though the actual moves and combos are completely different. Also, if we are comparing them, then I gotta say that the way Majima attacks, his animations, his quickness and overall feel of combat really makes you feel like you are playing as professional who knows his way around battles compared to the inexperienced Kiryu.

Breaker (Pink): Now this is absolutely crazy. Majima dances away in this style doing spins and hitting enemies with his fast leg attacks while making poses in midst of battle. Actually keeping your pose will make it so you get more heat so the goal is to be fast, look sick as hell and taunt your enemies while you beat them to the inch of their lives. Like Kiryu’s Rush style, the moves don’t hit that hard but the quickness and crowd control moves more than make up for it.

Slugger (Yellow): This style is one of the most amazing things that we’ve ever seen in the series. Majima just loves Baseball and carries a Baseball Bat with him at all times. This style completely focuses on that side of the character and I gotta say the things that he does with the Bat are absolutely amazing. This is a Bat but Majima will use it like Nunchuks, Katana, some sort of Gymnastic instrument... The team was so imaginative with this particular style and it really shows.

So, these were the changes that Yakuza 0 brings to the traditional formula of Yakuza series. Fingers crossed that I didn’t put any of you guys to sleep. Also, not to spoil anything but if you want to get even more out of combat then I strongly recommend you to finish each character’s Sphere Grid. *Wink Wink*
 

Tizoc

Member
After re assessing my financials I've opted out of getting Ryu ga Gotoku 6 for the time being despite how much I know it'll be fun to play. Primary reason being that I rarely game on my PS4 :X

I will however get a new Yakuza 0 hype thread up in due time and got a little something planned for when it releases.
 

IrishNinja

Member
traded on amazon for a copy of Ishin, should be here...someday!

I will however get a new Yakuza 0 hype thread up in due time and got a little something planned for when it releases.

we should work on that together man, i just need help with the "is/is not" images now, since sonofsparda put in such great work on the write-up.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
from the latest sega streaming

*no crane game
*no online multiplayer support for VF (you can play 2p mode with friends via share play)
*no news if RGG6 gets pro support
*Saejima
got handcuffed
 
from the latest sega streaming

*no crane game
*no online multiplayer support for VF (you can play 2p mode with friends via share play)
*no news if RGG6 gets pro support
*Saejima
got handcuffed


Fairly certain I saw that it was sorta confirmed for Pro support from a Hong Kong Playstation meeting a month or two back? Damn, really was hoping it would get a Pro patch just to smooth out the screen tearing, frame rate and resolution. Doesn't really matter, won't stop me actually buying the game and playing the heck out of it.

No crane game sucks though, that's a big part of RGG for me, ever since I struggled on it in the first game just to get all those damn birdie toys for one side mission...

As for Seijima... that damn fool.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
this conflicts with what i'm hearing elsewhere
https://twitter.com/oojinjahime/status/795971385600380928

can we pls get further confirmation?

Shrare play is sort of an online play...

Fairly certain I saw that it was sorta confirmed for Pro support from a Hong Kong Playstation meeting a month or two back? Damn, really was hoping it would get a Pro patch just to smooth out the screen tearing, frame rate and resolution. Doesn't really matter, won't stop me actually buying the game and playing the heck out of it.

No crane game sucks though, that's a big part of RGG for me, ever since I struggled on it in the first game just to get all those damn birdie toys for one side mission...

As for Seijima... that damn fool.

Sega kept ignoring viewers' Pro support questions while they answered about the crane game. It's unlikely the game gets pro support.

And the streaming uploaded (not official) skip to around 9:00 if you want to get spoiled.
https://youtu.be/IypR7RlZ5gY
 
Shrare play is sort of an online play...



Sega kept ignoring viewers' Pro support questions while they answered about the crane game. It's unlikely the game gets pro support.

And the streaming uploaded (not official) skip to around 9:00 if you want to get spoiled.
https://youtu.be/IypR7RlZ5gY

Oh well, that's disappointing, even just a few improvements here and there would have been great. Sony really should have jumped on board with Sega to push them for Pro support, Yakuza 6 is probably one of the bigger releases in Japan this year and having a decent Pro version would have been good publicity for them and the new console.
 

Coda

Member
Is anyone just excited that we're going to have an amazing open world beat 'em up game built for the next gen on PS4? I've been waiting to beat the crap out of people with destructible environments for a long time. I feel like while the game is obviously different, it's gonna give me God Hand vibes as far as good beat em up action. We need more of it this gen.
 
Sony made it clear that all new titles must support the PS4 Pro. Why would Yakuza 6 be an exception?

That pro support means that the game has to have a solid 1080p resolution and at least as good of a framerate as the OG PS4 version. Anything above that is optional and up to devs.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Sorry for being a negative @ss yarou but I'm kinda less excited than usual.

In the past, sega showed new stuff and new info every week until the launch day and hyping the fans up really well. But 6 got less previews so far and all the previews are showing the same stuff and it makes me guess 6 has less contents. And also, the demo came with kiwami didn't sell me well.

confirmed/rumoured contents missing in 6
-Sai no Kawara
-Casino
-Crane game
-Pachinko & Slot
-North area of Kabukicho -->North area of Kamurocho (I mixed up the actual name in real with the ficitional name in game XD)
-Bowling
-Billiard
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Sorry for being a negative @ss yarou but I'm kinda less excited than usual.

In the past, sega showed new stuff and new info every week until the launch day and hyping the fans up really well. But 6 got less previews so far and all the previews are showing the same stuff and it makes me guess 6 has less contents. And also, the demo came with kiwami didn't sell me well.

confirmed/rumoured contents missing in 6
-Sai no Kawara
-Casino
-Crane game
-Pachinko & Slot
-North area of Kabukicho
-Bowling
-Billiard

The casino, really? The rest is unfortunate, but no casino sounds insane.
 
Sorry for being a negative @ss yarou but I'm kinda less excited than usual.

In the past, sega showed new stuff and new info every week until the launch day and hyping the fans up really well. But 6 got less previews so far and all the previews are showing the same stuff and it makes me guess 6 has less contents. And also, the demo came with kiwami didn't sell me well.

confirmed/rumoured contents missing in 6
-Sai no Kawara
-Casino
-Crane game
-Pachinko & Slot
-North area of Kabukicho
-Bowling
-Billiard
pAc4PwUB8.gif
 
RGG6 demo confirmed (release date to be announced next week?). You can transfer damo save data to the full version.

Demo will be released one week before release is my guess, I think that's the norm for the rest of the series (bar Kiwami which I don't remember getting a demo at all).

I know this was mentioned elsewhere, but Yakuza 6 IS getting some form of Pro support which is good news:
http://gematsu.com/2016/11/list-ps4-pro-enhanced-japanese-games

Also, in terms of content the newly added stuff makes up for some main stay mini games being missing. Basically all my favourites are in and I'm looking forward to all the new stuff, so I'm not bothered if Shogi or gambling is gone (I will miss the crane game though). Then again, maybe its not getting shown off as nothing has been added to them, and they'll appear as they were from the last few games?
 

Gacha-pin

Member
correction -North area of Kabukicho -->North area of Kamurocho

Demo will be released one week before release is my guess, I think that's the norm for the rest of the series (bar Kiwami which I don't remember getting a demo at all).

I know this was mentioned elsewhere, but Yakuza 6 IS getting some form of Pro support which is good news:
http://gematsu.com/2016/11/list-ps4-pro-enhanced-japanese-games

Also, in terms of content the newly added stuff makes up for some main stay mini games being missing. Basically all my favourites are in and I'm looking forward to all the new stuff, so I'm not bothered if Shogi or gambling is gone (I will miss the crane game though). Then again, maybe its not getting shown off as nothing has been added to them, and they'll appear as they were from the last few games?

I don't miss most of them but they are reusing the same assets over and over again. I don't know the reason to remove them this time. Gambling in video games is not fun but there are a few exception like Hanafuda. It's still fun to play.
 
Strange that it took them THIS LONG to do auto saving, which I'm glad they finally implemented as I'm always concerned that I'd lose important progress due to forgetting to save (mainly challenge/completion related stuff).
 

IrishNinja

Member
alright, i got caught up but still wanna get this primer thread going before black friday! Tizoc sent me his contribution, and Son of Sparda's work is here too, so we just need:

a) a good thread name ("Welcome to Kamurocho: A beginner's guide to Yakuza" or something like that?)

b) those is/Is not images to help differentiate the series

im gonna go over what we have soon & see how it can be compiled but those are the two things that come to mind!
 
I asked this question before Irish, but didn't get any answer.

Do you need the actual comparison pictures or the background/frame with the "is/is not" text?
 

IrishNinja

Member
I asked this question before Irish, but didn't get any answer.

Do you need the actual comparison pictures or the background/frame with the "is/is not" text?

my bad for missing that! and my imaging skills are MS paint level shit-tier, so uh, both? was hoping one of ya'll could just whip a few up & we could pepper them in the right places around the thread!

boy, i really should hit up cj_iwakura for this too
 
Top Bottom