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Yakuza Community Thread - FEEL THE HEAT!

Yu Narukami

Member
Didn't really care about Akiyama's story in part 1. I think that Saejima's one is way more interesting right from the beginning. That scene in the restaurant was really dope.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Good to hear about the next RGG console game. Thought that'd be the case but honestly wasn't 100% sure until I saw that FOTNS was due out so soon in Japan.

Also glad to hear that we are probably getting a long trailer for Kiwami 2, any chance we'll get one focusing on story, and another focusing on gameplay/side activities like past Yakuza trailers? Or maybe that one will come later.

Also, any word what they were playing Kiwami 2 on? (PS4 base or PS4 Pro?). Just wondering as even though it was just a demo, I didn't see any screen tearing. Just wondering if they'd managed to at least resolve that on the base console (I still saw some frame rate drops, mainly on the day 1 recap footage).

I have no clue on both but I read random posts on the internet he/she didn't notice any tearing while playing the demo at tgs or the club management game for Kiryu was introduced in the trailer at tgs sega booth.
Ah that's awesome. Between now and then, there's 3 Yakuza Dev games that I'm interested in anyway - Yakuza 6, Kiwami 2 and Like a North Star. That's plenty for me.

The only thing left for them to do is to say the two magic letters
PC
. They have literally answered all my wishes at this point. It'll happen if these games sell well enough in the west but I don't think they need to do it if their audience is specifically in Japan.

I don't need a PC port personally, but I would love for another audience to try these type of games.

I guess a port for nintendo/microsoft console is more likely to happen.
 
Cool stuff. Glad to hear about the performance stuff, I'm on a Pro anyway but I know they've been working to improve the Dragon engine since 6. No tearing on a base PS4 would be great news for people not wanting to upgrade to a Pro.

I think a PC port is more likely than an Xbox port at this point though. With how bad Xbox does in Japan, and with how the games sell outside of Asia I don't see any hope of them doing well on MS's console.
 
Yeah, its challenging, maybe not super hard but compared to 4 and 5? Much harder!

Especially in story missions there are points where you go up against tons of enemies at once, and they don't pull their punches. Normal fights aren't too bad. Enemies are aggressive enough but don't have huge health bars so you can finish them off quick enough if you use a couple of decent damaging combo's. Though enemies do love to block in this game, and unlike past Yakuza's you get "knocked" out of your combo if the enemy blocks a hit of it which can sometimes get annoying. Looking at the demo of Kiwami 2, they've toned this side of things down.

So yeah, it has some degree of difficulty to it, hard to say where it ranks in the grand scheme of things since I didn't personally think Kiwami on hard was all that bad, yet looking at the OT I seem to be in the minority on that!
That's great to hear, personally I've been really let down by the difficulty side of things since Y0. Either the fight isn't actually tough or is arbitrarily difficult like the final Y4 boss. And I like you also thought Kiwami wasn't that hard either.

Hope Y6 provides a decent challenge :)
 
That's great to hear, personally I've been really let down by the difficulty side of things since Y0. Either the fight isn't actually tough or is arbitrarily difficult like the final Y4 boss. And I like you also thought Kiwami wasn't that hard either.

Hope Y6 provides a decent challenge :)
Like I've said in the OT before, until you unlock later upgrades, Kiwami is just frustrating on hard difficulty.
 
I think you know what my answer is gonna be.

Hint: it's number 10 on my post of suggestions in the Kiwami OT.

Nah, it's just badly designed difficulty that is balanced around you having most of the upgrades, without taking into consideration that most people won't have said upgrades until way later in the game or even after getting to Premium Adventure mode.
 
Aww I was gonna continue this lame joke but you had to go and become all serious :(

I agree with you, especially on the bosses regaining health mechanic which is just stupid IMO and really feels like a crutch because they needed to pad out the boss fights early in the game.

It really did feel like the game wasn't balanced around Kiryu having multiple styles but rather they tried to balance Kiryu having multiple styles around the game if that makes any sense.
 
Aww I was gonna continue this lame joke but you had to go and become all serious :(
Well, you are starting to sound like a crazy Souls fan, so someone has to make you stop :p
I agree with you, especially on the bosses regaining health mechanic which is just stupid IMO and really feels like a crutch because they needed to pad out the boss fights early in the game.

It really did feel like the game wasn't balanced around Kiryu having multiple styles but rather they tried to balance Kiryu having multiple styles around the game if that makes any sense.
Yeah, it was clearly them trying to put styles into Yakuza 1, which wasn't a game that was designed around having different styles in it. Zero had the same kind of problem when it came to enemy AI and the fact that they hadn't changed them that much from earlier games to accommodate for Kiryu/Majima having different styles.

But the difficulty on Zero was a lot more on the easier side, so it wasn't that apparent since Zero didn't have the frustrating moments that Kiwami has.
 

Desmond

Member
Dragon Engine in true 4K

tenor.gif

Maybe it'll not suffer the screen tearing we get on Amateur PS4s lol
 
But the difficulty on Zero was a lot more on the easier side, so it wasn't that apparent since Zero didn't have the frustrating moments that Kiwami has.

Well maybe I'm just a casual, but I found Zero on Hard to be just about a perfect difficulty for me. Challenging, but not usually frustrating. Kiwami on Hard was just terrible, but then on Normal it was incredibly easy all the way through. Only boss I really enjoyed there was the last one.

The bosses in Kiwami just weren't as fun period regardless of difficulty, but they would've been much better without the recharging health. It makes the focus of the fights only about the Climax heat moves.
 

robotrock

Banned
I managed to find a sealed Japanese copy. It's on the way now.

Have you played Of the End/ Dead Souls?

Not yet! Pretty excited to get around to it though, if only because it's giving some more Majima and Ryuji Goda though. Will order soon, but probably won't get to it until a month or so to avoid Yakuza fatigue.

Also planning to order a copy of Ishin at some point, or might just get it digitally. I have the 200 page guide all printed out in a binder, juuuuust gotta hit the buy button on the game.
 

Desmond

Member
Not yet! Pretty excited to get around to it though, if only because it's giving some more Majima and Ryuji Goda though. Will order soon, but probably won't get to it until a month or so to avoid Yakuza fatigue.

Also planning to order a copy of Ishin at some point, or might just get it digitally. I have the 200 page guide all printed out in a binder, juuuuust gotta hit the buy button on the game.
Wow that's a lot of ink 😂 . I speak Japanese and I still think it's too much. Very archaic Japanese. I've only done about a third of the story. I'll get back to it soon.
 
Binary Domain is excellent. It was a refreshing TPS back on release as the robots and bosses are way more fun than most other enemies included in other games at the time. Blowing off robot limbs and having them change up their attacks based on which limbs they lost will always be awesome. Great cast of characters as well.
 
I didn't enjoy the Binary Domain demo, but maybe the full game was good. Didn't it have excellent AI though? Wonder why that stuff hasn't really made it over to the Yakuza series.
 
Well maybe I'm just a casual, but I found Zero on Hard to be just about a perfect difficulty for me. Challenging, but not usually frustrating. Kiwami on Hard was just terrible, but then on Normal it was incredibly easy all the way through. Only boss I really enjoyed there was the last one.

The bosses in Kiwami just weren't as fun period regardless of difficulty, but they would've been much better without the recharging health. It makes the focus of the fights only about the Climax heat moves.
Personally I found Zero's hard difficulty to be on the easy side, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of the game. Whereas in Kiwami, like you said, the hard difficulty was just frustrating and not so fun.

I also agree with the bosses mostly being inferior compared to Zero. The recharging health really hurt their design and cheaply punished the players for not using the style that the game wanted them to use, during certain parts of each boss fight.
Do you guys think I should give Binary Domain a go? I really enjoyed Yakuza 0-5.
Absolutely. Binary Domain is an amazing shooter with some really interesting mechanics and a great cast of characters.

It's my most favorite cover based shooter game.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
I really need to download Binary Domain.

I'm glad it was part of PS+ because with that title and cover I thought it was a shitty western FPS back in the day and I haven't found any copies lately.
 
Eh, I wouldn't go that far. Both are excellent but I probably preferred the mobility and action on Vanquish above BD. Much preferred the story ad characters from BD though. You really can't go wrong with either, pity we don't get more Japanese TPS games, they put a nice spin on the genre.
 
Is BD better than Vanquish?
They're both fantastic games, and both have the common themes of being third person shooters where the tight AF gameplay is part of the main appeal.

But it's worth pointing out that both ultimately have different goals that they try to achieve outside of the main combat.

Basically, they're both great and I wouldn't really give either game the superior spot.
 

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, i recall them coming out relatively in the same time span? but they're not comparable games, really

BD is like....3rd person action with RPG like feelings to the dialogue & your choices, and how widely different things can go based on the trust you build with companions & such. it lends itself to multiple playthroughs.

Vanquish is a dope 3rd person action game too but it's platinum balls-to-the-wall madness for bosses & whatever is supposed to function as story, haha. it's a game that makes you respect sliding around.
 

Shanaynay

Member
I really need to download Binary Domain.

I'm glad it was part of PS+ because with that title and cover I thought it was a shitty western FPS back in the day and I haven't found any copies lately.

S'always a game i skipped because it didn't looked interesting.

I guess i was badly mistaken. ;-;
 

Big One

Banned
Credits rolling on Yakuza 3.

I can't believe I played through six Yakuza games this year after completely ignoring the series forever. Wild!
Wait you're playing 3 last? Lol interesting. I'm doing them in order. On 2 right now and goddamn is it hard getting used to a fixed camera.

I completely agree though. I did play Yakuza 1 on the PS2 back in the day, though. I never got very far and took it back to the rental placel. That was it.

On an unrelated note, I just discovered Pocket Circuit Racing is real wtf. I knew about Hot Wheels having a similar thing but I never imagined there being a collectible game where you can build cars with car parts and race them against each other.
 

ST2K

Member
What do you guys think the chances are of Kiwami 2 coming in the back half of next year?

New to the series with 0 and Kiwami, but I know localization with this series has been odd in the past.
 

Big One

Banned
What do you guys think the chances are of Kiwami 2 coming in the back half of next year?

New to the series with 0 and Kiwami, but I know localization with this series has been odd in the past.
I'd say pretty good since there's like a YEAR delay with the localizations
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
After finishing Kiwami, I popped out my old PS2 copy run it on PCSX2. Kiwami probably won't be getting a localized release for year(s).

Zero, Kiwami and 2, after this I think I'll round off the entire Yakuza series and play the PS3 games too. Haven't played those for years now.

Kiwami 2 looks much better than Yakuza 6. Can't wait to play both!

I agree with this. Yakuza 6 is day one for sure but the trailers and everything we've seen about it doesn't look nearly as interesting as the Kiwami 2 content.
 
I just started playing my imported copy of Yakuza 6 today, and I'm loving it so far. My Japanese isn't especially great, but with an online dictionary at hand I'm doing fine (and thank goodness the subtitles stay on screen when you pause the cutscenes :p). The few Sub Stories I've found so far have been excellent (Kiryu vs. the evil AI smartphone assistant being the standout), and everything is obviously gorgeous in the Dragon Engine.

Character control is horrendous though. Pushing the analogue stick all the way forward makes you walk, and holding X makes you sprint and drains stamina; there's no in-between speed for fine control and you can't move the camera while you're moving at a decent pace because you don't have two right thumbs. I either have to claw the controller or just accept that I'm not going to be able to see where I'm going while I'm sprinting. Kiryu has one of those modern procedural animation walk cycles, too, so he takes time to start moving and doesn't stop when you let go of the stick, which literally lead me to walking off the roof of a building by accident (luckily this doesn't kill you, for some reason :p).

Combat is also back to the single style of old, too, which is disappointing after the glorious combat of 0. I guess 6 is a back-to-basics kind of thing, as all the work went into the new engine; it's still fun to beat up dudes, but I'll definitely miss Rush style.

Oh well, like I said, I'm still loving it. This is the first Yakuza game I've played in Japanese, so it'll probably take me a while to get through. I'm still not so great with some of the Yakuza slang, and Kansai accents throw me for a loop (and I swear Date's voice actor is actively trying to be as unintelligible as possible), but playing games has been a huge help in learning the language so far. I've managed to avoid spoilers for 6 until now, so I can't wait to see what happens.
 
TGS long trailers were showed in the latest sega live straming.

https://youtu.be/sdK1cJCANSc?t=59m41s

Kiwami story trailer 59:40~
Kiwami gameplay trailer 1:09:20~
RGG online trailer 1:18:00~
Hokuto ga Gotoku trailer 1:24:15~

Hokuto looks pretty fun.
Billiard and bowling are missing in the gameplay trailer :(

Did they show off any Japanese gambling games (Koi Koi etc.) as I don't think I saw those in the trailer either? Pity about bowling, though hopefully that's not to mean its not in (I've always enjoyed it in the series), can't say I'd miss billiards all that much if its out, but for the sake of variety I hope its still here.
*edit* My mistake, Japanese style gambling is shown in the trailer, I just wasn't paying close enough attention.

Otherwise its looking brilliant, plenty of side stuff to do and it looks like thanks to the later games in the series (especially 0) the cabaret club management side stories will be far more fun to do. Loving the brief snippets of gameplay from some of the best set pieces in 2 as well, cannot wait to replay this game in the Dragon Engine.

For FOTNS, is it only games based on the series you can find in the wasteland? As the trailer showed an Outrun cab, so could we be getting a mix of Sega games in this one as well?

@ matrix-cat - make sure you unlock some of the better moves for Kiryu in 6 as soon as you can - stuff like the Tiger Drop, L1 counter move (sorta like Tanimura's counter system in 4) a heat move for convenience stores etc. can be unlocked and are brilliant fun to play around with. Also keep in mind the Tiger Drop and L1 counter moves have upgrades that drastically relaxes the timing on both, making them way easier to do. Lastly, don't make the same mistake I did - weapon counter heat moves (for knives, guns, hammers etc.) can only be pulled off when you are NOT holding down R1 to lock onto an enemy. I was trying to do them all game while never letting go of R1!
 
I put Kiwami back in its case last night and went back to Zero to finish up the ton of stuff in Premium I hadn't done yet. It immediately felt so comfortable in a way that Kiwami never did. I'm not sure I can explain why. The cities (as characters) are maybe part of it, and the more fun atmosphere, and the diversity of content. It's so many things I guess.

One thing I realized is that the larger size of Zero's cities give the side stories breathing room, both in terms of placement in relation to each other and in terms of how the player stumbles upon them naturally. In Kiwami it almost felt like I was running into another side story every 10 feet; it felt a bit claustrophobic and sometimes distracting. Going back to Zero, I can really see more clearly how the original gameplay concepts, rudimentary as they were in 1, were refined in title after title to be something that feels really great.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Did they show off any Japanese gambling games (Koi Koi etc.) as I don't think I saw those in the trailer either? Pity about bowling, though hopefully that's not to mean its not in (I've always enjoyed it in the series), can't say I'd miss billiards all that much if its out, but for the sake of variety I hope its still here.
*edit* My mistake, Japanese style gambling is shown in the trailer, I just wasn't paying close enough attention.

Otherwise its looking brilliant, plenty of side stuff to do and it looks like thanks to the later games in the series (especially 0) the cabaret club management side stories will be far more fun to do. Loving the brief snippets of gameplay from some of the best set pieces in 2 as well, cannot wait to replay this game in the Dragon Engine.

For FOTNS, is it only games based on the series you can find in the wasteland? As the trailer showed an Outrun cab, so could we be getting a mix of Sega games in this one as well?

@ matrix-cat - make sure you unlock some of the better moves for Kiryu in 6 as soon as you can - stuff like the Tiger Drop, L1 counter move (sorta like Tanimura's counter system in 4) a heat move for convenience stores etc. can be unlocked and are brilliant fun to play around with. Also keep in mind the Tiger Drop and L1 counter moves have upgrades that drastically relaxes the timing on both, making them way easier to do. Lastly, don't make the same mistake I did - weapon counter heat moves (for knives, guns, hammers etc.) can only be pulled off when you are NOT holding down R1 to lock onto an enemy. I was trying to do them all game while never letting go of R1!

The info we got so far, it sound like you can find multiple game titles and the consoles the games run on along with some arcade machines. You can bring them back to your hideout and add to your collections. I don't think we will get new titles aside the ones in zero & 6.
 
The info we got so far, it sound like you can find multiple game titles and the consoles the games run on along with some arcade machines. You can bring them back to your hideout and add to your collections. I don't think we will get new titles aside the ones in zero & 6.

I'd always prefer more brand new content, but hey I'll take it because I love the concept. I look forward to amassing my virtual collection of retro games in FOTNS!

After rewatching the Kiwami 2 trailer a few times, I'm pretty certain the Majima side of things is what I'm most hyped for. Even if it turns out to be a fairly short chapter, I'm loving the usual production that goes into the cutscenes for it, plus its nice to get a cannon entry where you can play as the more unhinged version of Majima (his cutscenes and side content in Dead Souls were the highlight of the game for me).
 

Kimaka

Member
Finished Yakuza 3 and so far I'd rate the Yakuza games 0 > 3 = 2 > 1.

I liked Mine and thought he was great. I wish he lived because he really could have used an extended 'How a healthy relationship works" speech from Kiryu.

The Okinawa section was a great addition. I loved all of Kiryu's interactions with the children and the Ryudo Family (I'll miss Rikiya). The game would have been better if we got to stay there because that shit with the CIA and Joji was bad.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
Finished Yakuza 3 and so far I'd rate the Yakuza games 0 > 3 = 2 > 1.

I liked Mine and thought he was great. I wish he lived because he really could have used an extended 'How a healthy relationship works" speech from Kiryu.

The Okinawa section was a great addition. I loved all of Kiryu's interactions with the children and the Ryudo Family (I'll miss Rikiya). The game would have been better if we got to stay there because that shit with the CIA and Joji was bad.

I see you're a man of culture as well!
 
Great to see more Yakuza 3 love cropping up as more people play the game. It has its faults no doubt, but the more I revisit that game the more I love it. That end game... so darn good. Oh, and I also love the fact that
Lau
is brought back. Loved his fight in Yakuza 1 and love the fight here. Now Sega just have to do the right thing and make sure that remaster of 3 happens eventually, and release it in English so we can get a proper uncut version of the game in English finally.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Finished Yakuza 3 and so far I'd rate the Yakuza games 0 > 3 = 2 > 1.

I liked Mine and thought he was great. I wish he lived because he really could have used an extended 'How a healthy relationship works" speech from Kiryu.

The Okinawa section was a great addition. I loved all of Kiryu's interactions with the children and the Ryudo Family (I'll miss Rikiya). The game would have been better if we got to stay there because that shit with the CIA and Joji was bad.

If you have time and it's ok to go back to the game you finished. I recommend that you replay zero later. You must have missed a lot of great stuff and momemts in zero.

Mine got a very cool role in Ishin.
 
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