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*
