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[The Artisan]

Early game spoilers

Spoiler

Go inside the building from the front door (left of the guy that asks you to show a mourning band). There you can talk to a guy on the right side of the room that starts a chain of events.

Thank you!

The first couple times you'll be told where he is. After that he'll start appearing randomly in town, hiding in objects, and he'll also interrupt random fights and eating at places like Smile Burger.

whoa, so i'll be in the middle of a fight with punks and he'll show up? that's cool.

although Son of Sparda is saying he gets harder as the game progresses so that's scaring me. I'm playing on easy though so I hope it won't be too bad.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Rush style quickstepping usually gets me round block-happy enemies and Rush parrying I think against the first boss and Majima.

 

[Shanaynay]

.The main problem is the combat, enemies don't telegraph what they are doing, they hit you right back mid combo, they break your combo while being on defense, they have way too much health. Even more annoying is the enemies that auto lock on you mid combo even if it feels like their attack should go in one direction they'll suddenly turn 180 degrees without telegraphing it and land the power hit. Now you have to get up and bait them to do the same again.

The bosses are a Chore because of all this, you are spending so much time just trying to hit them or break guard.

Sadly, i'll have to agree with you, on Chapter 4 but i've already seen that from some fights alone.

I need my Komaki Drop...

EDIT: Also, IMO, Beast style really sucks in this game.

 

[nOoblet16]

What's the point of these pocket tissues?
They had them in Yakuza 0 too...but seems pointless.

 

[Holundrian]

What's the point of these pocket tissues?
They had them in Yakuza 0 too...but seems pointless.

sidequest

 

[HeeHo]

What's the point of these pocket tissues?
They had them in Yakuza 0 too...but seems pointless.

I don't really know either. They are handy if you are being chased and you accept one. After you take one, the game acts as if you were never being chased. Maybe that's it?

Also, I did notice enemies being more aggressive during some of my combos but every time they have suddenly interrupted my flow with an attack, I accidentally hit the red-counterattack and everything works out. Not saying it's a non issue but it hasn't been a big deal for me yet.

 

[Synless]

Picked this up today (over 0, not cheap enough yet) and I'm ready for Kiwami!!!

 

[Autoignition]

Is there a handy guide for Pocket Racing like there is for 0? I want to knock that storyline out tonight.

I found this on tumblr earlier, but I haven't used it myself. There are a few guides on YouTube that I bounced between in order to get it done.

It took five hours.

I never want to play Pocket Circuit again.

 

[nOoblet16]

I'm inclined on playing Yakuza 3,4 and 5 now. The only problem is I'm spoiled by the quick load times of zero and Kiwami. Do the PS3 Yakuza games load quick?

Also I can't wait to play yakuza 6 after that demo, the free form movement and new combat is so exciting.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Picked this up today (over 0, not cheap enough yet) and I'm ready for Kiwami!!!

The more I play of Kiwami, the more I realize that Zero is indeed the perfect starting point.

But if you wanna start with Kiwami, at least don't do it on hard. The hard mode will frustrate you to hell if you are not familiar with Yakuza (and specifically Zero's) combat system.

I'm inclined on playing Yakuza 3,4 and 5 now. The only problem is I'm spoiled by the quick load times of zero and Kiwami. Do the PS3 Yakuza games load quick?

Also I can't wait to play yakuza 6 after that demo, the free form movement and new combat is so exciting.

I thought they were okay at the time. Haven't played them in years tho.

 

[Shadowman16]

I'm inclined on playing Yakuza 3,4 and 5 now. The only problem is I'm spoiled by the quick load times of zero and Kiwami. Do the PS3 Yakuza games load quick?

Also I can't wait to play yakuza 6 after that demo, the free form movement and new combat is so exciting.

Load times aren't excessively bad, they aren't as good as the PS4 ports of 0 or Kiwami in this respect but I never remember load times in 3 being bad, and I've played 4-5 recently and those were fine load time wise.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Loading in/out of the quarantine zone in Dead Souls was really long and frequent and pushed me to install an SSD in my PS3 but I don’t remember the others being so bad.

 

[xclk07]

Wow, giving us Maxima battles with a red healing cloud without being able to unlock the corresponding finisher move is a bit BS. I'm beginning to agree on how less refined all of this is versus 0.

 

[LAA]

Been playing Kiwami more and so far...I really think 0 was better. Seemed to have more crazier side quests, better karaoke stuff, disco, even the cabaret club mini game. I'm just feeling kiwami is...simply a lesser version so far.
I think/hope they fixed some of the worst parts of 0, like some of the frustrating mini games, and I see there are cheat items for the card game stuff which I hope help a lot.
Hopefully things change and it wins me over in other ways, up to chapter 5 currently just going through mini games and side quests, but just feels more "tame" compared to 0 so far, and...it was the crazy stuff in 0 that ended up making me enjoy it the most ha ha, though of course I did enjoy the serious part of the story/missions too.

 

[sotojuan]

Been playing Kiwami more and so far...I really think 0 was better. Seemed to have more crazier side quests, better karaoke stuff, disco, even the cabaret club mini game. I'm just feeling kiwami is...simply a lesser version so far.

I mean, to be fair, the writing of KIwami is largely the same as Yakuza (2005). It's not crazy that a game that came out a decade later has better writing than the first game of a series as well as more stuff to do. If you stick around this thread you'll learn that Yakuza (2005) is the least crazy/wacky game.

I treat it like a sitcom's first season - good but the best stuff comes later

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

Have been doing a lot of sidequests in chapter 4, and fighting Majima, about 39% done after 14 hours. Liking it a lot more now than I did during the early hours. I like the Kiwami heat moves, at least against Majima it's easy enough to quickly fill up your heat gauge once he starts regenerating and the heat moves do a shitton of damage.

There's a quest marker in front of Deborah the whole time, but nothing seems to happen. Neither in front of the club, nor inside. What's that all about?

The sexy bug girls arcade thingy...some of the rock-paper-scissors symbols on both yours and your enemies' side start blinking randomly sometimes and occasionally there's even an exclamation mark for some reason. I've not been able to figure out if there's a rhyme or reason to it though.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

I am playing Y3 now, forcefully skipped two, light spoilers in the beginning for people like me that play Zero, Kiwami and now 3.

Loading into fights isn't bad, but it takes longer than 0 and Kiwami. Its also full of shimmering and it's quite juddery. Every non cutscene is text.

 

[The Artisan]

I wish the old recordings were still optionally available in the game though. It would've been cool to hear what everyone sounded like originally.

 

[TheBowen]

Been playing Kiwami more and so far...I really think 0 was better. Seemed to have more crazier side quests, better karaoke stuff, disco, even the cabaret club mini game. I'm just feeling kiwami is...simply a lesser version so far.
I think/hope they fixed some of the worst parts of 0, like some of the frustrating mini games, and I see there are cheat items for the card game stuff which I hope help a lot.
Hopefully things change and it wins me over in other ways, up to chapter 5 currently just going through mini games and side quests, but just feels more "tame" compared to 0 so far, and...it was the crazy stuff in 0 that ended up making me enjoy it the most ha ha, though of course I did enjoy the serious part of the story/missions too.

Haven't completed kiwami, but with the price tag being lower your right, but it was to be expected

It's the first game in the series with what I believe is the same writing, side quests and side activities, so obviously 0 was a lot better in terms of content with it being technically the 10th game in the series.

 

[robotzombie]

So I found a butterfly card up in a tree, any idea how to get it?

 

[Shanaynay]

So I found a butterfly card up in a tree, any idea how to get it?

I think you press R3 to go in first-person view then you look at it and press X when it zoom in. Had to to that for some collectibles in past games.

 

[jdstorm]

Picked this up today (over 0, not cheap enough yet) and I'm ready for Kiwami!!!

If you are in europe, zero is now 56% of digitally for the weekend. Might be in your price bracket now.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I loved Zero and I'm loving this, but I feel sorry for anyone using Kiwami as their first Yakuza game as Zero was an amazing starting point, and I feel like by playing Kiwami before Zero you're doing yourself a disservice. Zero is the perfect start to the series and I can't imagine playing Kiwami and missing out on all the references, nuances and character development from Zero.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

That [Chapter 9 spoilers]

Spoiler

car chase sequence

can go to hell. I've died 3 times in that section thus far. Ugh....

It's the first game in the series with what I believe is the same writing, side quests and side activities, so obviously 0 was a lot better in terms of content with it being technically the 10th game in the series.

The overall story and composition of story cutscenes are the same, but they've added new side-stories, mini-games and even some new cutscenes (the Nishiki scenes at the start of each chapter) to the game.

I loved Zero and I'm loving this, but I feel sorry for anyone using Kiwami as their first Yakuza game as Zero was an amazing starting point, and I feel like by playing Kiwami before Zero you're doing yourself a disservice. Zero is the perfect start to the series and I can't imagine playing Kiwami and missing out on all the references, nuances and character development from Zero.

Word.

 

[CannonFodder52]

We probably don't need to be making direct comparisons in quality between 0 and Kiwami. They are simply not in the same league. Yakuza 0 is the product of 10 years of experience and building upon the Yakuza franchise, it has a much, much larger budget and is meant to be the main course. Kiwami is a remake of a 10+ year old PS2 game. I'm convinced people wouldn't even be making this form of direct comparison with other franchises and 10 year old remakes.

A remake of GTAIII releasing on the same year as GTAV wouldn't have very many people complaining about GTAIII having a more archaic story/pacing/flow compared to GTAV, right?

That said, I'm loving Kiwami and it's a great way to experience the origional game, especially with the added context from Y0. But it shouldn't be looked at as a competitor to Yakuza 0 for witnessing what this franchise has achieved over the last decade.

 

[Autoignition]

The overall story and composition of story cutscenes are the same, but they've added new side-stories, mini-games and even some new cutscenes (the Nishiki scenes at the start of each chapter) to the game.

For what it's worth, though, the new Nishiki stuff is really fantastic. If there was any one character in the Yakuza series who needed a serious fleshing out, it was him. Kiwami did a great job with it.

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

Speaking of Nishiki, what's up with his sick sister that's mentioned early on? Can't remember her being mentioned in 0.

 

[Human Trashcan]

I loved Zero and I'm loving this, but I feel sorry for anyone using Kiwami as their first Yakuza game as Zero was an amazing starting point, and I feel like by playing Kiwami before Zero you're doing yourself a disservice. Zero is the perfect start to the series and I can't imagine playing Kiwami and missing out on all the references, nuances and character development from Zero.

On the flip side - 0 is a much better game, so by going from Kiwami to 0 you're saving the best for last.

 

[Autoignition]

Speaking of Nishiki, what's up with his sick sister that's mentioned early on? Can't remember her being mentioned in 0.

She's mentioned for like half a second when Tachibana is

Spoiler

talking about his own sister. Nishiki brings up his and says he gets how Tachibana must feel.

As far as I can remember, that's the only mention of her in 0. Yumi only got one blink-and-you'll-miss-it throwaway line, too, which fucking blows my mind, considering.

 

[sotojuan]

We probably don't need to be making direct comparisons in quality between 0 and Kiwami. They are simply not in the same league. Yakuza 0 is the product of 10 years of experience and building upon the Yakuza franchise, it has a much, much larger budget and is meant to be the main course. Kiwami is a remake of a 10+ year old PS2 game. I'm convinced people wouldn't even be making this form of direct comparison with franchises and 10 year old remakes.

Agreed, but it's inevitable. Same release year, same engine and look.

 

[MYeager]

Sadly, i'll have to agree with you, on Chapter 4 but i've already seen that from some fights alone.

I need my Komaki Drop...

EDIT: Also, IMO, Beast style really sucks in this game.

Are you charging every attack? If not try that, you don't get stunned out of the charge when hit by many moves and the damage is good and can has a wide range, plus it has multiple person heat moves.

 

[Shanaynay]

Are you charging every attack? If not try that, you don't get stunned out of the charge when hit by many moves and the damage is good and can has a wide range, plus it has multiple person heat moves.

I don't know if it's because i'm on hard but while charging i tend to get cancelled a lot. It's probably a style that will show its potential once a LOT of upgrades have been unlocked. The enemies are more aggressive which can lead to a lot of being cancelled mid-hits due to how slow you attack. So far Beast has been a hinderance more than an asset but it's probably just me.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

For what it's worth, though, the new Nishiki stuff is really fantastic. If there was any one character in the Yakuza series who needed a serious fleshing out, it was him. Kiwami did a great job with it.

I completely agree. He is much more relatable character now.

On the flip side - 0 is a much better game, so by going from Kiwami to 0 you're saving the best for last.

While that is true, if you go from Kiwami to Zero a lot of the story stuff are already known to you, so the game will lose a big portion of its tension. Especially in regards to the fate of the main characters. (both the good and bad guys)

I don't know if it's because i'm on hard but while charging i tend to get cancelled a lot.

Yeah, I'm playing on hard and this is true for me as well.

 

[sotojuan]

All right, done with the story at around 22 hours. I'm not a reviewer but here are a few thoughts:

Really liked the game - enough to beat it in less than a week (I work full time so it's usually two or three weeks to beat a game). Definitely getting into this franchise and will be buying 3-5 when my backlog clears a bit.

Not going to talk more about the combat/difficulty, plenty of posts in this thread.

Great story with like-able characters. And for once, I did not hate a child character.

Substories were still fun and addicting - I kept telling myself "I'll do one more" for a few hours. Yeah no Miracle Johnson or bowling chicken, but still fun.

Really disliked the encounter rate. I know I can run from fights but they happen very often and they are on the way to my objective, forcing me to either fight 4-7 weaklings or go around them. A couple of times they blocked me from a Majima fight.

Love Majima Everywhere. Funny and keeps you on your toes. Definitely getting rank S on it.

--

I still have to finish all the substories in 0, so not sure when I'll get around to completing this game. I still have Dragon Quest V halfway done too. This game was fun and I am looking forward to getting the platinum some day, maybe when more guides come out in English.

 

[sotojuan]

.

 

[Freezasaurus]

God dammit. Where's the CP redemption guy? I stumbled on him once and can't find him again.

 

[Shanaynay]

God dammit. Where's the CP redemption guy? I stumbled on him once and can't find him again.

South end of Tenkaichi street or south of Serena if you prefer.

 

[TheBowen]

Question for long time yakuza fans

In other yakuza games games, are you able to encounter More then 3-4 enemies on the street at once ? I've seen in yakuza 6 you do, but I would've liked y0 and y1 kiwami to at least change up how many enemies are in the random encounters.

 

[Shanaynay]

Question for long time yakuza fans

In other yakuza games games, are you able to encounter More then 3-4 enemies on the street at once ? I've seen in yakuza 6 you do, but I would've liked y0 and y1 kiwami to at least change up how many enemies are in the random encounters.

I've had groups of 4 and 6 in earlier games.

 

[MYeager]

God dammit. Where's the CP redemption guy? I stumbled on him once and can't find him again.

At the front arch to Kamurocho near Serena.

I don't know if it's because i'm on hard but while charging i tend to get cancelled a lot. It's probably a style that will show its potential once a LOT of upgrades have been unlocked. The enemies are more aggressive which can lead to a lot of being cancelled mid-hits due to how slow you attack. So far Beast has been a hinderance more than an asset but it's probably just me.

In the early parts I get that it's slow and you have to unlock a lot of the thinga that make it useful. Know it gets better later at least.

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

While that is true, if you go from Kiwami to Zero a lot of the story stuff are already known to you, so the game will lose a big portion of its tension. Especially in regards to the fate of the main characters. (both the good and bad guys)

The main plot of 0 has no real connection to Kiwami's plot and outside of the two protagonist, most of the major players in 0 stay in that game. The ones that reappear in Kiwami were mostly minor characters in 0, save for Nishiki. Some of them are still minor characters in Kiwami.

 

[Tenshin]

I played the original ps2 ver. Do i play this before zero? Or the gameplay leap from zero will make kiwami dated?.

 

[Shadowman16]

I played the original ps2 ver. Do i play this before zero? Or the gameplay leap from zero will make kiwami dated?.

0 and Kiwami basically play like the exact same game, as this is just 0's gameplay and fighting mechanics with the story and side stories of the original Yakuza game.

So play 0 first, you'll be able to appreciate the backstory on certain characters and then go into Kiwami which fleshes out a few plot points far better than the original game ever did.

Question for long time yakuza fans

In other yakuza games games, are you able to encounter More then 3-4 enemies on the street at once ? I've seen in yakuza 6 you do, but I would've liked y0 and y1 kiwami to at least change up how many enemies are in the random encounters.

0 did do this though, In the beginning of the game you get 3 enemies. Then a couple of chapters later your up to four enemies. Now on chapter 14 of my current playthrough I'm getting 6-7 enemies (with larger health bars) compared to the pushovers from the beginning of the game. Oh, and they carry all sorts of weapons now as well! Not sure if they level them up any higher in the final chapter, but it definitely still happens. I'm playing on hard mode though if that makes a difference.

6 is pretty nuts in the large encounters though (story fights mainly) as they seriously start chucking tons of enemies at you. And they all attack pretty aggressively. Its quite a nice challenge to be honest!

 

[Son Of Sparda]

I love the gun wielding bosses in Yakuza games!..... said no one ever.

The main plot of 0 has no real connection to Kiwami's plot and outside of the two protagonist, most of the major players in 0 stay in that game. The ones that reappear in Kiwami were mostly minor characters in 0, save for Nishiki. Some of them are still minor characters in Kiwami.

It's not just about who appears but also about who doesn't. When a newcomers is playing Yakuza 0, they don't know which of these characters are long time series veterans, so the events of the story have more tension behind them.

If you play Zero after Kiwami, the story will lose a lot of those tensions.

6 is pretty nuts in the large encounters though (story fights mainly) as they seriously start chucking tons of enemies at you. And they all attack pretty aggressively. Its quite a nice challenge to be honest!

Fair challenge or Kiwami like challenge?

Tbh, I'm not enjoying the Hard difficulty in Kiwami that much. Sometimes it's really fun but others it feels like the AI is just cheating (attacking through your combos, stun-locking you from all sides, etc).

 

[Shanaynay]

Fair challenge or Kiwami like challenge?

Tbh, I'm not enjoying the Hard difficulty in Kiwami that much. Sometimes it's really fun but others it feels like the AI is just cheating (attacking through your combos, stun-locking you from all sides, etc).

I bet you it will be Kiwami like challenge. IMO playing on hard mode become less and less fun as each installment are released. Kiwami's the worst offender in this case. In no way does it detract from the experience but i know what to expect from boss battles.

 

[CannonFodder52]

Chapter 9

Spoiler

That car chase...
I was feeling smug, thought I was going to beat it in one try, then got killed by the 18 wheeler driver over and over. I don't remember it being that hard in Y1, but I also think I played on normal back then (on hard in Kiwami).

 

[sotojuan]

Chapter 9

Spoiler

That car chase...
I was feeling smug, thought I was going to beat it in one try, then got killed by the 18 wheeler driver over and over. I don't remember it being that hard in Y1, but I also think I played on normal back then (on hard in Kiwami).

Spoiler

As long as you're near max health before the 18-wheeler (takes some practice, to be fair), it's not too bad. Just hide when he hits you so the car takes damage.

 

[CannonFodder52]

Spoiler

As long as you're near max health before the 18-wheeler (takes some practice, to be fair), it's not too bad. Just hide when he hits you so the car takes damage.

I finished it, thanks though.

Curious how hard it is on legend.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

I bet you it will be Kiwami like challenge. IMO playing on hard mode become less and less fun as each installment are released. Kiwami's the worst offender in this case. In no way does it detract from the experience but i know what to expect from boss battles.

I don't know. I liked the hard difficulty in Zero. It was a bit on the easy side, but it was still tons of fun.

Kiwami is just straight up annoying. But I do wonder if the game is actually balanced around you having all the upgrades. After getting a bunch of them, now suddenly the Beast style isn't that weak anymore. There are times that you can get knocked out of your attacks by other people (blades and guns are worse) but in the last story part with tons of enemies, I was mostly fine using Beast style.

Of course that doesn't mean that some of the super powered enemies that you encounter in the game aren't just badly designed (heavy hitting enemies with quick dashes.... ugh), but the fights might become more balanced depending on what abilities you have unlocked.

 

[Manbig]

I was very much disliking the Hard difficulty combat until I got the upgrades that allowed me to weave after getting hit and after getting my guard broken in Rush mode and the other abilities that make beast mode ignore most hit stun during climax heat.

It is very unfortunate that the only way to make the game feel even a little balanced is by getting ignore hit stun abilities just like the enemies do. Makes for a very poorly balanced game.