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Yakuza Kiwami = Review Thread -

S

Son Of Sparda

Member
semiconscious said:
kenzan! is the best yakuza game. period. strange, but true :) ...
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For me it's like this.

Story and characters:
Kenzan > Ishin

Everything else:
Ishin > Kenzan

I really love them both. It's a shame that Kenzan will probably never come to the west (it's understandable tho). I'm kinda hoping for an Ishin localization announcement at PSX.
 
D

Dmax3901

Member
Anyone got a link for a good, brief story summary for Zero? Some of the details (especially how it all wraps up) have completely faded from my memory.
 
R

Rymuth

Member
Son Of Sparda said:
For me it's like this.

Story and characters:
Kenzan > Ishin

Everything else:
Ishin > Kenzan

I really love them both. It's a shame that Kenzan will probably never come to the west (it's understandable tho). I'm kinda hoping for an Ishin localization announcement at PSX.
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That's interesting because to me Ishin has the better story hook (Kiryu being part of the Shinsengumi as opposed to Kiryu being simply Miyamoto Musashi) =o
 
M

MYeager

Member
Shadowman16 said:
I remember it taking me a little while to adjust to the Japanese voices in 2 as I was so used to the English ones from the first game. Which is strange considering the Japanese voices are a much more natural fit to the game when you consider the setting. But now 10 odd years later after playing all the games in the series I really couldn't imagine ever playing the game without the Japanese voices again, it'd probably not ruin the experience but it'd definitely hurt my immersion in the game.
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Yep. And I think that's were some of the hyperbole over the voice acting for the first comes from, it's too weird to hear any voice but the Japanese VA for the games anymore.
 
S

Sinh_Magnus

Member
Son Of Sparda said:
For me it's like this.

Story and characters:
Kenzan > Ishin

Everything else:
Ishin > Kenzan

I really love them both. It's a shame that Kenzan will probably never come to the west (it's understandable tho). I'm kinda hoping for an Ishin localization announcement at PSX.
Click to expand...

I've read bad things about Ishin's story, while I thought Kenzan, which I played, had one of the best stories and characters of the series. It also had a good use of its setting, though I think Ishin won't have problems in that aspect.

The only think that had made me not import and play Ishin is the fact that playing Kenzan with english guides and subs videos for the story felt more like work than fun. I had to force myself to finish the game and it's a shame because I would probably rank it higher If I hadn't felt like that.
I saw that Ishin had a better guide for it, but I fear that even with that It will feel like work again.
 
S

Shadowman16

Member
Sinh_Magnus said:
I've read bad things about Ishin's story, while I thought Kenzan, which I played, had one of the best stories and characters of the series. It also had a good use of its setting, though I think Ishin won't have problems in that aspect.

The only think that had made me not import and play Ishin is the fact that playing Kenzan with english guides and subs videos for the story felt more like work than fun. I had to force myself to finish the game and it's a shame because I would probably rank it higher If I hadn't felt like that.
I saw that Ishin had a better guide for it, but I fear that even with that It will feel like work again.
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I'd still recommend giving Ishin a try. Its a terrific game, the final 2-3 chapters have some of the best fights in the entire series, and it definitely has one of the best (if not the best) boss in the entire series (right up there with the first couple of games). It starts off like 0 really - really awesome set piece in the first chapter, then a few very short, very straight forward chapters but the back half of the game is non stop awesomeness.

Only point the game really felt like work to me was the completion list/friends stuff. Its pretty much the definition of the word "grind"!
 
S

Scotia

Banned
Had to cancel my Amazon pre-order because it said the game was being delivered on the 16th of September. Fuck that. Going to pre-order on Simplygames instead. It's £2 more expensive but at least I'll get it on the 29th.
 
S

Shadowman16

Member
Scotia said:
Had to cancel my Amazon pre-order because it said the game was being delivered on the 16th of September. Fuck that. Going to pre-order on Simplygames instead. It's £2 more expensive but at least I'll get it on the 29th.
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That sucks :( Thankfully my Amazon order is still due next week, but I've noticed their Prime service has been slipping these last few orders. Might be tempted to swap to another shop if it continues...
 
S

Scotia

Banned
Shadowman16 said:
That sucks :( Thankfully my Amazon order is still due next week, but I've noticed their Prime service has been slipping these last few orders. Might be tempted to swap to another shop if it continues...
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I've noticed Amazon's becoming more and more shitty when it comes to games. Might drop them completely when it comes to games tbh.

Pre-ordered on Simplygames so it's all good now. Nothing can stop me playing this game on day one lol

Cjdamon042 said:
Yeah if you preorder the steel book version it doesn't arrive until the 16th of September for some reason. The regular edition says it arrives on the 29th however. No idea why.
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That's weird. Simplygames still has the steel book as the 29th so hopefully that doesn't change.
 
C

Cjdamon042

Member
Scotia said:
Had to cancel my Amazon pre-order because it said the game was being delivered on the 16th of September. Fuck that. Going to pre-order on Simplygames instead. It's £2 more expensive but at least I'll get it on the 29th.
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Yeah if you preorder the steel book version it doesn’t arrive until the 16th of September for some reason. The regular edition says it arrives on the 29th however. No idea why.
 
M

muteki

Member
Amazon has "upgraded" my order to release date delivery of Aug 29th.

Why do I need an "upgrade" to get a game on release if I preordered it 3 months ago :p
 
K

Kaizer

Banned
Cjdamon042 said:
Yeah if you preorder the steel book version it doesn’t arrive until the 16th of September for some reason. The regular edition says it arrives on the 29th however. No idea why.
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Wait really? I have the Steelbook Ver. preordered but if it's going to arrive later I have no problem just picking up the regular edition. I have noticed my Steelbook order on Amazon still doesn't have a delivery day estimate, despite saying it'll release on the 29th. Should I cancel & go for the regular?
 
S

Soar

Member
Bought my steelbook from base.com and just got an email stating that it will be shipped soon. Strange notification.
 
S

Shadowhaxor

Member
Tossing in our review as well. Sadly, we're only on OpenCritic, still pending on Metacritic.

4.5/5 - The Outerhaven Yakuza Kiwami Review

This is what a remake should be. Keeping the main core of the first iteration, while adding and improving to an already amazing experience. Though it may not be up to par with the stories of this current generation, this drama is a classic tale that any gangster, Asian film aficionado can appreciate. Be it the amazing combat system or the myriad of activities to partake, get lost in Kamurocho and enjoy your stay. This game that started series and the Legend of the Dragon of Dojima is simply essential for any PS4 owner.
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adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Aki-at said:
I think the writing for Yakuza 0 and 2 go in different direction, one is a character arc whilst the other is a thriller where you don't know where you're heading but I'll give it to 2 because it's finale was what cemented the series as one of my top in gaming (Plus a great love story) oh and that use of
Crazy Ken Band in the Kiryu stabbing scene.
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Man.. I don't think I've played Yakuza 2 since it first came out on the PS2. After Kiwami, and now that I have a computer which can do PCSX2, I think I'll need to pick up a copy of 2 again.
 
S

Shadowman16

Member
lucebuce12 said:
If they don't say anything about the remasters then I'll just assume they're not coming tbh. Only other time left to make an announcement would be TGS.
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I mean, they might just announce them next year? I'm not expecting every Yakuza announcement to happen this year, I expect them to space the announcements out over the next few years. Even if PS5 gets announced within the next year or two, I doubt Japanese devs will migrate over to the new hardware exclusively anytime (case in point, see Yakuza 6 which was released last December as the first PS4 exclusive Yakuza game!)
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
ThanksVision said:
apologies if it has been asked but

is it dumb to jump into this game without playing zero? the $30 tag is tempting
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You will be able to play this but will be puzzled at some scenes which recall the events of Zero. For the most part this is a self-contained game.

FYI for this remake, they actually went ahead and added some more story scenes to factor in the events of Zero, which obviously weren't there in the original release of Yakuza.

Also, Yakuza 0 is an amazing game and a great place to start the Yakuza franchise so if you're able to find a good deal on that game, I would highly recommend getting it too.

ToonLink said:
Got an email saying my copy from Amazon shipped at around 4am. Can't wait.
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Man, I'm so jealous right now :(

I'll have to get my steelbook in-store on the launch day like a peasant.
 
S

Sumio Mondo

Member
Even though it's down my list, I feel that 1 might have my favourite story in the series next to 2 and 0. This remake may elevate the story more especially with better cutscenes. It's really gritty and tragic. The rest of the series goes for a more over the top feel from 2 onwards but 1 has a really gritty, brutal sense to it all that's more in line with the Yakuza films of the 70s and 80s that the likes of Kinji Fukasaku used to make back then, whereas the games since then go for a more Takashi Miike influence, really over the top and crazy. Just my opinion.
 
M

MHWilliams

Member
MYeager said:
While I can see why people would play Zero first and think there's nothing wrong with going that way, Yakuza Kiwami might feel like a step back after playing Zero. Which it should, the base game is still a 12 year old game with updates while Zero benefits from 10 years of series development.
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JPS Kai said:
I think if I wasn't so fresh off 0, I would've appreciated the complete remake more.
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And this is the problem with going Yakuza 0 > Yakuza Kiwami. Zero is a full featured better game. You want to go up, not down.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
MHWilliams said:
And this is the problem with going Yakuza 0 > Yakuza Kiwami. Zero is a full featured better game. You want to go up, not down.
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This is what I've been saying. Sure from a narrative perspective is a bit better to start with 0, but 0 is by far the most amazing game in the seried while Kiwami is a game with much less content and that uses PS2 animations for its cutscenes...
 
T

TheBowen

Sat alone in a boggy marsh
Looks like mine is being sent on 26th, which means i should get it earlier then the 29th but sadly im on holiday till the 29th

So excited, and honestly after kiwami i might just rebuy 0 and give that a second playthrough.
 
S

Son Of Sparda

Member
If you start with Kiwami and then move on to Zero, the story will lose a lot of its tensions. You will know beforehand who will end up where and how the things will eventually play out.

That's something that we as old time fans didn't have with Zero, so that might be something that's easy to forget when recommencing to people how they should play the series.. For us, the story of Zero wasn't about "what", but more about "how", cause we knew characters from earlier entries. But I'm sure for a lot of newcomers that tension of Zero's story is a lot more enjoyable since they don't even know what will happen to any of these characters. You will lose all of that if you start with Kiwami instead of Zero.

Also, what's wrong with starting the series, with arguably its best entry? First impression matters a lot and Zero makes a hell of an impression on newcomers to the series.

Not to mention the fact that they added more stuff to Kiwami so it would work more as a sequel to Zero.
 
T

TheBowen

Sat alone in a boggy marsh
Son Of Sparda said:
That's something that we as old time fans didn't have with Zero, so that might be something that's easy to forget when recommencing to people how they should play the series.. For us, the story of Zero wasn't about "what", but more about "how", cause we knew characters from earlier entries. But I'm sure for a lot of newcomers that tension of Zero's story is a lot more enjoyable since they don't even know what will happen to any of these characters. You will lose all of that if you start with Kiwami instead of Zero.
.
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As someone who started with 0, I 100% agree. There's many moments in 0 that would have not been anywhere near as exciting if I knew who lived to move onto yakuza 1, and those who I would look at and go 'they must die in 0 cause there not in kiwami'

Still don't know what the plot of kiwami is or any of the other games so going in 100% blind.
 
A

AuthenticM

Member
Game arrived while I was out for breakfast. Meaning I have to wait until tomorrow after 13:00 to pick it up at the local drop point.

The next 26 hours are going to be unbearable. I should have fucking made breakfast myself.
 
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