Yakuza / Like A Dragon Megathread

skerry

sniper_samurai wrote: »

Not yet. Hammered financially between grabbing an XSX and a PS5. Will grab it in a couple of weeks in the sale, it's pretty much guaranteed to have a price drop then.

Looks awesome, turn based wackiness. Game Pass has me spoiled though, I havent bought an Xbox game on release in ages. Might make an exception here though. I'm sure it won't be pushing crazy next gen graphics but at least it has Series X enhancements

Thecageyone

How do people rate YK 2? I have it on Game Pass but not really given it a chance yet, is it worth the bother?

skerry

Thecageyone wrote: »

How do people rate YK 2? I have it on Game Pass but not really given it a chance yet, is it worth the bother?

I thought it was very good. Finished it last month. Uses the new engine too so looks a lot better than Kiwami and Zero.

Xenji

skerry wrote: »

Anyone on here pick up Like a Dragon Yet? I'm tempted myself, looks good

Holding off till the start of March when the PS5 version is out, would be tempted to do the same if we had a definitive date for Cyberpunk.

Thecageyone

skerry wrote: »

I thought it was very good. Finished it last month. Uses the new engine too so looks a lot better than Kiwami and Zero.

Cheers, I'll give it a go, I put off most other games while finishing the Witcher 3, onto the DLC on that now and taking a bit of a break so something different for a change will be nice

skerry

Xenji wrote: »

Holding off till the start of March when the PS5 version is out, would be tempted to do the same if we had a definitive date for Cyberpunk.

Turn based combat looks good and the summons look mad altogether. My only reservation is if the turn based combat encounters will drag given the amount of mobs you generally run into running from A to B in a Yakuza game

quokula

skerry wrote: »

Anyone on here pick up Like a Dragon Yet? I'm tempted myself, looks good

Maybe a bit of a sour taste left by the fact the xbox series x keeps having issues and losing progress, but from what I have been able to play so far I'm a little iffy on it.

I liked the idea of turn based battles, and some of the takes on JRPG tropes to fit into a modern world are hilarious, with random battles against such enemies as the drunken "Beerserkers" or the "Hungry Hungry Homeless", who have poisonous hobo breath. However, several hours in, and there's still not enough abilities for there to be any real strategy, and some of it feels very imprecise, like certain abilities have AOE but there's no way of telling how big the area is or who is within it when choosing, compounded by characters randomly moving around constantly so they may be in the zone when selecting an attack but move out of it as you trigger it.

Outside the combat system, there's lots of trademark Yakuza humour and craziness, and it's still very enjoyable, but I'm not yet warming to Ichiban as much as Kiryu, or Yokohama as much as Kamurocho. Still time for them to grow on me as I get further in though as it's still early days. It's by no means a poor game, just not quite at the standard of previous titles in the series as yet for me.

skerry

quokula wrote: »

Maybe a bit of a sour taste left by the fact the xbox series x keeps having issues and losing progress, but from what I have been able to play so far I'm a little iffy on it.

I liked the idea of turn based battles, and some of the takes on JRPG tropes to fit into a modern world are hilarious, with random battles against such enemies as the drunken "Beerserkers" or the "Hungry Hungry Homeless", who have poisonous hobo breath. However, several hours in, and there's still not enough abilities for there to be any real strategy, and some of it feels very imprecise, like certain abilities have AOE but there's no way of telling how big the area is or who is within it when choosing, compounded by characters randomly moving around constantly so they may be in the zone when selecting an attack but move out of it as you trigger it.

Outside the combat system, there's lots of trademark Yakuza humour and craziness, and it's still very enjoyable, but I'm not yet warming to Ichiban as much as Kiryu, or Yokohama as much as Kamurocho. Still time for them to grow on me as I get further in though as it's still early days. It's by no means a poor game, just not quite at the standard of previous titles in the series as yet for me.

Sound for the detailed reply. Are you generally a fan of turn based combat? Its the thought of how they implement what is typically done in a fantasy type setting into busting heads on the city streets is kind of whats appealing to me and from the what you've said it seems they've implemented that quite well.

Are the save issues your having with the game itself or a result of quick resume not doing what it should? Haven't tried that feature myself yet but I've heard it has a couple of kinks to be sorted.

Might pick up the game during the week. I'm playing a lot of shooter type stuff since I got new console which I normally don't play but enjoying them at the moment. Think some turn based madness might mix things up well

quokula

skerry wrote: »

Sound for the detailed reply. Are you generally a fan of turn based combat? Its the thought of how they implement what is typically done in a fantasy type setting into busting heads on the city streets is kind of whats appealing to me and from the what you've said it seems they've implemented that quite well.

Are the save issues your having with the game itself or a result of quick resume not doing what it should? Haven't tried that feature myself yet but I've heard it has a couple of kinks to be sorted.

Might pick up the game during the week. I'm playing a lot of shooter type stuff since I got new console which I normally don't play but enjoying them at the moment. Think some turn based madness might mix things up well

Yeah my issues are with quick resume. You could be in the middle of a typical Yakuza 15 minute long story dialog, have to pause and pop out for some reason, come back only to find quick resume has kicked you out and you have to redo a bunch of stuff you already did because you hadn't manually saved in a while.

Regarding the turn based strategy, I love turn based stuff so I was looking forward to this. I'm about 5 or 6 hours into the game, for a long time I only had one character, now I have 3, but they still only have a couple of abilities each, and they're pretty much all just physical attacks, with a choice of high MP / high power, or low MP / low power and that's about it. There are elements and status effects and stuff, I think I just need to get further into the game for that to all unfold.

The other issue I have is the AOE stuff. For example all of my characters have a variation of an attack where you pick one enemy, and it hits all enemies "near" them. But there is no definition of what counts as near (some attacks seem to have a wider radius than others, but I can't see this information surfaced anywhere) and there's no indication whatsoever as to who is in or out of that range. Even if you get a feel for each move's radius through trial and error, it's still a bit hit and miss because people walk around randomly during the fight and they might move out of range while the animation plays.

This is nitpicky though, I am still enjoying the game overall and as the move sets and character sets expand it might come into its own. And if you're just playing casually and don't care much for strategy, you can definitely just enjoy laughing at the imaginative enemies and moves that they've come up with. Summons are absolutely hilarious, I don't want to begin to describe how they work as it would be a spoiler.

quokula

I have now played the mission with the minigame where you have to not fall asleep during a bad movie and I take back anything negative I said.

GOTY

skerry

quokula wrote: »

I have now played the mission with the minigame where you have to not fall asleep during a bad movie and I take back anything negative I said.

GOTY

Seen that in a review, Looks nuts Bought the game there so hopefully be downloaded for tonight

ERG89

https://twitter.com/gematsucom/status/1329784881396772870

I am hoping they finally announce a western release of Yakuza Ishin. I am tempted to buy it more lately and just hope they release it in the west to save me using a guide

skerry

I'm on to Chapter 4 in Like a Dragon and I don't think I've laughed this much playing a game before. Its got all the JRPG elements but their all pulled off in the most over the top Yakuza way possible. Have 3 members in my party now and some extra moves unlocked so combat is getting a bit more diverse. Have 2 summons unlocked and their awesomely done.

Really liking Ichiban as the protagonist. Started it in Japanese with subs but after Chapter 2 I switched to English dub out of curiously and I've left it there since. Thought it would be weird but the voice acting is pretty well done for the most part and the actor for Ichiban suits him well. Great game so far. Slow to start and a lot of cutscenea but that's par for the course with Yakuza games in my experience

Mr.Fantastic

Thinking about diving into Yakuza 2 once the external HDD issue with the Ps5 is fixed.

Can any fans of the series let me know is it okay to skip 3,4,5

Cause I own Kiwami 2, 6 song of the dragon and judgement.

I heard that 3-5 are just remasters? it just for time sake do I miss much skipping them.

quokula

I've finished Yakuza Like a Dragon now.

Overall I'd say it's a great game, but not quite up there with some of the previous games. I enjoy turn based JRPGs so I'm totally on board with that shift, but the combat system just wasn't a great one for a JRPG. While the various jobs were very creative and amusing, nearly every character was better off staying in their default job and the system pretty much punished you for changing between them and experimenting as you carry so little from one job to the next, but your stats suffer so much by going back down to rank 1, and the XP curve is such that you never ever fully catch up on ranks you missed while experimenting with other jobs.

There's also the way characters randomly walk around in battle, which makes the battles look good and not look like a static JRPG fight, but it turns most AOE abilities into a completely random crapshoot. Add to that the unnecessary QTEs accompanying nearly every ability, the block timing, and the rush to try and hit people who are knocked down for bonus damage before they stand back up, and it makes for a weird uncomfortable merge of realtime elements into a turn based system that doesn't quite gel.

The worst thing about it though was the final third of the game where some enemies become massive damage sponges. You're never under threat or having to think tactically, but it can just take forever to whittle down some healthbars. There are some bosses that are really bad for this, but even some random encounter enemies have this problem which can get annoying when just trying to run across town to your next objective. My final playtime was probably several hours longer than it needed to be because of this.

With all that said, the new combat system did give them the opportunity to have some really creative and hilarious enemy types and special moves, applying RPG tropes to a modern setting brilliantly. I loved some of the creative moves like hobos with poison breath, chefs who can burn you with cooking equipment, or rappers who can stun you by throwing down controversial lyrics. I also love the little touches like the way your team members stay in character and start shouting how pissed off they are at an enemy when they've been infected with the rage status effect for example.

The combat system also allowed the story to be enriched by virtue of having a party rather than one character. I enjoyed the story, it was everything you'd expect from a Yakuza game and while Kasuga took a little time to grow on me he turned out to be a great main character, and a lot more nuanced than Kiryu was. The supporting cast was also excellent, and I thought it was extremely well voiced in English having been unsure about whether to go for that or subtitles at the beginning.

And then there's the sidequests, which are as good as any Yakuza game. The business management is really compelling, and the cinema minigame is just hilarious. I thought the kart racing suffered a little from poor handling, but it was still a fun ride. Then there were so many fun sidequests and things to do on top of that to make for a game that's just so densely packed with fun things to do.

It will be interesting to see where they go next. I think they can definitely iterate and improve on the new combat style to get it to a good place, but I would still like to see a traditional Yakuza again in future too though, just so I can get some good classic fun hitting people over the head with bicycles.

Parabellum9

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Thinking about diving into Yakuza 2 once the external HDD issue with the Ps5 is fixed.

Can any fans of the series let me know is it okay to skip 3,4,5

Cause I own Kiwami 2, 6 song of the dragon and judgement.

I heard that 3-5 are just remasters? it just for time sake do I miss much skipping them.

Kiwami 2 is ****ing unreal. There's a lot of story building in 3-5 and they introduce places and characters that appear in 6 as well. I finished 3,went straight on to 4 and played about 75% of it, and then took a break for a few months before starting in to 5 (which is absolutely massive and is taking far longer than I expected).

Judgement is class though as a spin off game based in Kamourocho, it's built on the dragon engine which Kiwami & Kiwami 2 were done with. You will notice the lack of that engine in 3-5 as they are just remasters.

Zero-Cool

Bought the Remastered collection today in Argos for 26 quid. Went get to start then until the new year with me current games on the go but looking forward to it.

Jordan 199

It's nice to play Yakuza games on the Xbox. Currently downloading Kiwami II which is on Game Pass.

Jordan 199

Remastered Collection (3,4 & 5) coming to Game Pass on the 28th of January.

Sephiroth_dude

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Thinking about diving into Yakuza 2 once the external HDD issue with the Ps5 is fixed.

Can any fans of the series let me know is it okay to skip 3,4,5

Cause I own Kiwami 2, 6 song of the dragon and judgement.

I heard that 3-5 are just remasters? it just for time sake do I miss much skipping them.

I did the same , played 1 and 2 then played zero, then played 6 which is unreal and then judgement and now playing 7 , I would recommend playing them in order if you can , zero then 1-7 then judgement.

Sephiroth_dude

ERG89 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/gematsucom/status/1329784881396772870

I am hoping they finally announce a western release of Yakuza Ishin. I am tempted to buy it more lately and just hope they release it in the west to save me using a guide

Was there any announcement ?

ERG89

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Was there any announcement ?

No Ishin anyway.....they announced the next game is in development but not if its one like Yakuza 0-6 or Like a Dragon.

Sieghardt

They did announce a long term contract with the voice actor for Ichiban so it looks like he's going to be around a lot in future games in any case

Gyan84

Finished Yakuza 3 recently and really enjoyed it even though it was a big graphical downgrade from 0 and the kiwami games.

I liked the change of setting to the orphanage in Okinawa after 3 games set entirely in big cities.

Was surprised Major

that they killed off Rikiya as I thought he was going to stay under Kiryu's wing, especially since 4 seems to have multiple protagonists.

Only thing I really didn't like was this version of the hostess club mini game. I liked it in the others but here it was just a menu selection followed by walking a lap around the club and repeat.

I'm playing persona 5 royal now so should get to Yakuza 4 by 2025 :pac:

sniper_samurai

Gyan84 wrote: »

Only thing I really didn't like was this version of the hostess club mini game. I liked it in the others but here it was just a menu selection followed by walking a lap around the club and repeat.

Probably one of the reasons it was removed from the original western release on PS3.

ERG89

https://twitter.com/RGGStudio/status/1356378364488130560?s=19

No plans to bring it to PC & no PS4 upgrade path. No thanks.

Azza

Weird that isn't getting a PC release, rumors have it that Google may have come to deal with Sega to keep it Stadia exclusive.

quokula

So since first discovering the series with Yakuza 6 a few years ago, I’ve played 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 6, 7 and Judgment and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

With it being a while now since finishing 7 before Christmas I thought I’d head back to Kamurocho and fired up Yakuza 3 remastered. But.. Those animations. Those graphics. That UI. Old fashioned UX things like looking for save points.

I’m not sure I can go back to PS3 era gaming. I’ve only played an hour or so but really not feeling it. Does it get better? Did anyone else have this initial reaction and get over it? Is it worth persevering?

Gyan84

quokula wrote: »

So since first discovering the series with Yakuza 6 a few years ago, I’ve played 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 6, 7 and Judgment and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

With it being a while now since finishing 7 before Christmas I thought I’d head back to Kamurocho and fired up Yakuza 3 remastered. But.. Those animations. Those graphics. That UI. Old fashioned UX things like looking for save points.

I’m not sure I can go back to PS3 era gaming. I’ve only played an hour or so but really not feeling it. Does it get better? Did anyone else have this initial reaction and get over it? Is it worth persevering?

I finished it recently and enjoyed it although it is very outdated compared to the newer ones.

If you're interested in the story and the change of setting to Okinawa/the orphanage I'd stick with it but if it's just gameplay you want I'd skip it.

Gyan84

Finished Persona 5 so decided to play Yakuza 4.

Finished Part 1/the first four chapters. Gameplay wise it's much better than 3.

I absolutely hate the character you play as though

He loans money to the guy who has no idea what type of company he wants to start but he refuses to lend to the wife escaping her abusive husband because she wouldn't take a job in the red light district

He also criticizes her saying anyone who wants a job bad enough will get one, despite the fact he was homeless for years and only got out of it because of the money explosion from the end of the first game.

Part 2's story seems more interesting even though I've only started it.

Retr0gamer

Playing Like a Dragon at the moment. Absolutely adoring it. The combat system is excellent. What I wasn't expecting was how laugh out loud hilarious it was. Just got to a pokemon satire and I was wetting myself laughing at it.

Zero-Cool

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Playing Like a Dragon at the moment. Absolutely adoring it. The combat system is excellent. What I wasn't expecting was how laugh out loud hilarious it was. Just got to a pokemon satire and I was wetting myself laughing at it.

I still have Yakuza 3,4 & 5 to play but the old engine is putting me off. I'm not a fan of the the look of the new combat but mad to try it as it needed freshening up anyway.

Retr0gamer

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I still have Yakuza 3,4 & 5 to play but the old engine is putting me off. I'm not a fan of the the look of the new combat but mad to try it as it needed freshening up anyway.

I really don't know what the hang up is about the combat engine. It's one of the best JRPG combat systems I've used. Loads of tactics, you have to take into account spacing. You have timed elements to attacks. It also feeds into the overall story. It's basically Dargon Quest right down to the job system but with a load more complexity and fun layered on top. Sega don't make many JRPGs but when they do they are usually incredible and Yakuza 7 is no different.

Zero-Cool

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I really don't know what the hang up is about the combat engine. It's one of the best JRPG combat systems I've used. Loads of tactics, you have to take into account spacing. You have timed elements to attacks. It also feeds into the overall story. It's basically Dargon Quest right down to the job system but with a load more complexity and fun layered on top. Sega don't make many JRPGs but when they do they are usually incredible and Yakuza 7 is no different.

I think it's just that the old combat was so fun so weary of anything new. Also, the last turn based combat I played was South Park TFBW :pac:

Jordan 199

I usually play one Yakuza game a year, and seeing 6 is on Game Pass I will play that.

skerry

I'm really enjoying the change in combat too. Its a break from the traditional Yakuza combat which can get a wee bit button mashey at times. I seen people were giving out that some later battles can drag on but if you keep upgrading gear you shouldn't have too much of that happening. Having said that I enjoy turn based combat anyway so that helps.

I'm currently at the point where I need some cash to continue the story and started paying attention to the business management mini game I'd been ignoring. Now I can't stop playing the mini game and I'm in no rush to get back to the story until I grow my empire

The pokemon thing cracked me up too, came out of nowhere

Zero-Cool

Ooohh business management mini game, my favourite part of the Yakuza games. Does it compare to any of the earlier ones like cabaret, clan creator?

Edit: Looks like they have Cabaret, business management and tons more. Damn ye, I was happily ignoring this and I want it now!

Retr0gamer

I'm loving the Can collecting game as well. It plays a bit like Pac Man but weirder.

skerry

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Ooohh business management mini game, my favourite part of the Yakuza games. Does it compare to any of the earlier ones like cabaret, clan creator?

Edit: Looks like they have Cabaret, business management and tons more. Damn ye, I was happily ignoring this and I want it now!

Its kind of like a mix of the cabaret and the property one, has elements of both. Its well done though. I'm about 30 hours in to the game, picked it up again now after a bit of a break and really enjoying it again. I tend to not pay huge attention to side quests in games but love picking them up in this, and most Yakuza games in fairness.

The summons are nuts also, always make me laugh

Zero-Cool

I missed out on buying this for 26 quid off Adverts by 1 day. I completely blame Retro for not posting about his thoughts yesterday instead of today.

I see a few places selling the ps4 version for 25 but currently sold out while they sell the ps5 version for 40. Strange as it's a free upgrade.

Retr0gamer

Dont blame me, blame the game. I didn't realise I was playing a stone cold classic until I saw this last night.

skerry

I always enjoyed the humour in Yakuza games but Like a Dragon takes it to the next level. There's a certain satisfaction in taking out your mobile phone mid battle and summoning a giant man baby to pummel your enemies

sniper_samurai

skerry wrote: »

I always enjoyed the humour in Yakuza games but Like a Dragon takes it to the next level. There's a certain satisfaction in taking out your mobile phone mid battle and summoning a giant man baby to pummel your enemies

I like how they retranslated the misc. command to etc. when it was pointed out to them on twitter that the command list would then spell out Sega.

Retr0gamer

They were talking on retronauts about the dreamcast and how it's not a coincidence that ichibans life goes to **** in 2001 which is when sega stopped manufacturing the dreamcast.

Zero-Cool

Splashed out on this today, looking forward to unleashing the piss wizard.

Edit: Anyone else using a PS5 disk, it is slow as **** to install. an hour left to copy data. Needs 20gb's to start playing but stuck on 19.163 while the main data is very slowly still installing. Very strange.

Zero-Cool

I couldn't get into this. Never warmed to the main character and rage quit after failing a boring tail mission too many times. Seriously, tail missions are never fun and should always be replaced by a cutscene.

https://twitter.com/PlayStationEU/status/1384902275597053955?s=19

Gyan84

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I couldn't get into this. Never warmed to the main character and rage quit after failing a boring tail mission too many times. Seriously, tail missions are never fun and should always be replaced by a cutscene.

https://twitter.com/PlayStationEU/status/1384902275597053955?s=19

I enjoyed it but the number of repetitive trailing missions was insane. There's a long trailing mission towards the very end that nearly made me drop it.

Always thought it was a bit weird that they decided to give Yakuza completely new JRPG combat but give their new IP the old Yakuza combat.

Also finished Yakuza 4 recently. Enjoyed the gameplay but the story was dreadful. So many double crosses they became meaningless and

the police chief turning up after getting shot point blank in the head because it was a rubber bullet

Zero-Cool

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Splashed out on this today, looking forward to unleashing the piss wizard.

Edit: Anyone else using a PS5 disk, it is slow as **** to install. an hour left to copy data. Needs 20gb's to start playing but stuck on 19.163 while the main data is very slowly still installing. Very strange.

Even though I missed out getting this cheaper on Adverts (I got it in Argos for 40), it's gone back up to 55 and 60 in gamestop so feel a but better about it now.

Barely played much, still in Chapter 1, Ichi is already more likable than the main guy from Judgement. Also, the pose he pulls just going into start menu is class. Really looking forward to getting stuck right in.

Robert ninja

In the first few hours of 6 and I'm mad that "Legend" mode isn't available from the start. Game's easy even on "hard". DMC has this same problem (although even worse). Just throw me into the hardest mode I ain't playing this twice. :mad:

Zero-Cool

Mid chapter 2 on LaD and I'm all in. Ichi is just class. Love how aggressive he is with everything he says, even when being nice and i constantly have a smile on my face with the humour, the localisation of top notch. It's the first Yakuza have where I'm tempted to change to English language just so i can listen to the story instead of reading it but the Japanese voice acting is just too good.

Still too early to give verdict on the combat as i have no party and 1 skill so just spamming that. Loving it though.