DANGERMAN Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I think this might also be on the PS3 but I don't think we're getting that version over here. Also, I'm under embargo until tomorrow so I can't really say too much If you've not played a Yakuza game before, people initially compared them to Shenmue before other people got a bit annoyed about that and argued they were the Japanese GTA. They're more like Shenmue, there's more to do and there's way more combat, but it's a dense town and as you walk the streets you'll be attacked, then the game turns in to arena combat. The fighting is fairly brutal, it's mostly punching and kicking, which fills your heat meter, this makes you more powerful, but also allows you to access Heat moves (kind of finishing moves), triggered with triangle when the scenario is right. These can vary from simple stamping on people's heads, smashing their faces against a wall, or powerbombing them, stabbing them repeatedly in the guts. They're great There's different fighting styles now, 2 characters, and essentially each has a standard combat mode, a quick combat mode, and a power combat mode. There's skill trees for all, and rather than experience points you now spend money to improve yourself, which you beat out of opponents. This is kind of a mixed blessing as early on it means you can level up pretty quickly, but soon you'll be needing 30million for each move and that's when you'll have to start engaging with some side quests you might have otherwise not bothered with The side quests are plentiful. They vary from entertaining substories you don't get a huge amount from (they do have some rewards down the line) other than it's something entertaining to do. Some of them are very funny, one or two I wish I hadn't started, but all in all my the only thing that's made me regret playing through so many of them is that I'm supposed to be rushing to finish the game. As well as these side stories there's a few old Sega games, Out Run, Space Harrier. There's baseball, bowling, karaoke, some of this you'll be forced to engage with at least once, but of the 3 I've mentioned I've only done the karaoke, and it's great The story is actually very good. You play as Kazuma Kiryu initially, he's the main character through the series, but they have tried sidelining him a little in the past. The game opens with Kazuma beating a guy half to death on behalf of a loan shark, the guy later turns up dead which puts Kazuma in the firing line with his Yakuza bosses. It's a rabbit hole that goes fairly deep, it's got a lot of yakuza morality in there, and there's some cool shitty yakuza to face off against, but it's a story about real estate and power grabs, You'll then switch to Majima Goro, who was one of the antagonists in the first game, but people liked him so they keep bringing him back. They've toned him down a bit, I suspect we'll see something that makes him snap towards the end of the game, because he's not his old future self at the minute. He's been kicked out of the yakuza and is running a club, he has to make enough money to buy himself back in to the yakuza, but that involves doing some stuff he might not want to. It's not as good a story as Kazuma's, but it has started to tie in One final thing, this is a prequel, and apart from one part of Majima's story, I've not seen anything that requires prior knowledge of the serie. In fact, the way the game is structured, holding back content and doling it out slowly, it's probably as good an introduction as you could hope for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 To explain that video @mr lakituposted. There's npcs in the game you can help who'll become friends with you if you do enough for them. Doing enough with the bowling lady means you get a new member of staff to help run your property empire The property stuff is fairly simple but a bit daunting initially. You can buy some properties while out and about, renovate them from your office, and then collect rent from them. You need a manager, who'll either make the economy better or worse for you, and who's health will be at stake if you get in to a money battle (literally throwing money at them until they beat their opponent). You'll also need a security guard who'll reduce the chance of the battle happening. You barely have to engage with this if you don't want to, but you need a lot of money to level up later on and this is the best way for Kazuma to earn it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Wow didn't even know about that! That's some seriously deep shit, think this games gonna last me a very long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Started this earlier, played the first 4 hours, unsurprisingly I absolutely loved it. It definitely lays the story on thick that's for sure! No sodding about at all, you're thrown right in at the deep end at the heart of a Yakuza conspiracy (with Kiryu very much at the heart of it) tons of cutscenes in typical Yakuza fashion and a hell of a lot of action,by the end of Chapter 1 (which took me almost entirety of the 4 hours to finish!) I'd already gone through my first dungeon, defeated a boss and came out the other side. All the entertainment options were open after Chapter 1 was over so I immediately went to try them all out, did quite a bit of Baseball (strangely addictive...), Bowling (which I was quite good at), Karaoke and the Arcade (Space Harrier, OutRun at the Claw), tried to get into the erotic video store but it seems I need to find the ladies to ogle over before I'm allowed in there or something. Going to try the Pool and Darts tomorrow, hadn't unlocked the dancing, phone sex or female wrestling stuff yet but will give them a go when they unlock (could be for Osaka only? Not sure). Some things surprised me though, the amount of cash you get! A lot of the other Yakuza's I was always worried about going too mad on the side quests and activities as I wanted to save some in case I needed any potions or anything for battles later on, I vaguely remember it being mentioned a while back but when I got in the game I'd forgotten you can't pick up weapons anymore, bit of a shame as I loved walloping people with chairs and bicycles but I guess it's to accommodate the new combat styles. Playing on Normal and have already been surprised by the difficulty level, the general goons you face running about don't trouble me but the first dungeon was pretty tough at times, and the boss battle at the end in particular! Ended up having to use about 4-6 Potions to heal myself throughout and barely scraped through, no idea which fighting style is better but I tend to prefer the pink one at the moment. You can clearly the see graphics and engine are last-gen as well, but it seems to run much smoother than Yakuza's of old, it's 60fps I believe and it shows, it does look a bit better than the PS3 games at least with the lighting and some of the key character models being improved but that's as far as it goes, the facial animations for the cutscenes are sublime as always too. More tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 You can pick up weapons, you can even commission special ones later on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Best game Played another 4 hours earlier, just did a shit load of activities and side quests really, did a bit more of the story and learnt the Beast style which means I can pick up weapons now but yeah, mostly just messed about. Mahjong, read all the rules and everything, seemed a bit like an Asian Texan Hold 'Em in a way, didn't get it though, Pool and Darts was more my style though and I was quite good at them, also watched my first erotic video in the shop which was really really fucking odd, glad my old man wasn't around when I watched that. Did some training with the Beast women and homeless dodging man too, shotun(?) which was pretty much chess was the last one I tried, think that was all the activities done for now, started making friendships though with the stock car racing guy (pic above), fucking amazing side quest, laughing my tits off, other side quests such as the High School Knickers seller was incredible too, so fucking zany, god I love that kind of shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Played another 4 hours earlier. Finished off the 2nd chapter, doing a few side quests (the producer one had me in stitches) and the newly opened dance club (which was bloody fun) along the way. Then into Chapter 3 and meeting one of my favourite Yakuza characters, Majima, once again. Have to say his intro was absolutely amazing, how everything was shot and framed, the build up to his entrance and how you deal with the drunkard, honestly something out of a film it was that good. Great to be back in Osaka and the whole Cabaret club is fantastic, didn't have much cash initially so carried on with the story, just going through the motions a bit learning all the styles again whilst doing a side quest or two, the interesting bit was when I got to Majima's apartment though. He had a dream about when him and Saejima got screwed over by the Yakuza years ago, I know I've seen this before (can't remember if it was Y4 or Y5) and it just really resonated with me again, strong deja vu, such a great character. One huge game though, 12 hours in and feels like I'm barely out the tutorial really, more tomorrow! Signing off with this I encountered earlier: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Another 4 hours played today, 16 total. Not much to add really, still absolutely loving it. Side quests have easily been the stand out for me, they've always been good in the series but I felt sometimes they ended up at the same predictable conclusion more often than not. Not the case here though, everyone feels incredibly unique and well written, had one featuring a public toilets in a park where I replied to a girl with graffiti on the stall only to later find it was a few thugs pulling my chain (and then to find the woman was real and waiting for me after all) and another where I had to pretend I wanted to join a cult in order to rescue a lady's daughter from them, was so damn funny, laughing like a drain throughout (shooopppah Pippi) Got a bit further into the story too, up to Chapter 5 now I think, absolutely adore Majima, every single twist and turn of his story I've no idea where it's going to go, I love how he puts on an act with the Hostess girl as well changing his voice completely, such a fantastic character. The game overrall seems zanier and funnier than past entries but that's maybe because I've explored a bit more this time? I'm not sure, met a chap called 'constant erection' in his underwear about town and another called Mr Libido who likes to find hot women then look up their videos in the erotic video parlour afterwards or something, fucking mad as a bag of hatters in such a uniquely Japanese way, fucking love it. Oda schooling Kiryu on business etiquette too, scolding him when he made a mistake, and Nishiki taking the piss out of his suit when he puts it on. So great to see a young, somewhat naive Kiryu compared to the stoic tree of past entries, the game definitely gets the message across that he's still learning his way in this world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeFour Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Just got a bit more done in chapter 2. Literally just unlocked beast mode. Not sure how I feel about it as it's a bit slow leading to more openings for them to hit me. In the tutorial I could see it's potential as a crowd control style so perhaps that's where I'll see benefit. I didn't expect much from this but I must say it's humour and focus on story (lots of dialogue and scenes) with the brutal violence is what I needed. Not sure it's helping with my cultural understanding of the country though Girls selling knickers on the street? I'm sure someone here resides in Japan maybe they could shed some light? Those meat buns always seem yummy. Might buy a load for Kiryu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Only had time for 2 hours yesterday. Didn't really get much done, dossed about waiting for the Real Estate office to be renovated by joining one of the gentleman's phone sex lines managed to 'win' the game and take a lass out on a date, only then did the side-quest title 'A 1 night stand' pop up...took her a to a hotel and it was heavily implied she did the nasty with Kiryu, the sly dog, apparently I can now buzz her bleeper when I'm doing an activity and she can come and join me this game, so fucking zany. Had my parents in the room when I was doing the phone sex telephone and was just laughing like a drain so damn funny. Carried on with the story for a bit, got up to Chapter 6. Still gripping stuff, mired in the Real Estate world at the moment and trying to get my head around that mini-game, seems so incredibly deep and daunting at the same time, a bit like Ass Creed's property purchasing in AC:Brotherhood but deeper and more involved some how, the further I get into the game it seems to unfurl more and more layers of itself, crazy deep. Struggling with the combat a bit though, was doing fine for ages, upgraded all of my abilities up to the levels I could with my new found Real Estate cash but it seemed to only make the enemies bastard hard, even the groups of goons you face wandering about I was struggling with, love the Rush style and have been primarily using that but I seem to get beaten to a pulp when facing crowds so maybe I need to adapt to something different? I guess the Beast style will be good with crowd control but the times I've tried to hit someone with a weapon they usually knock me down before my attack can connect. Rather annoying, going through Toughness Z's like nobody's business and having to eat at a Restaurant after almost every fight now, crazy, may have to bump it down to Easy at this rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regemond Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 So, would this be a good introduction to the series? I've got Yakuza 3 and 4 on PS3 but never touched them and I don't know whether to start them first or, as this is a prequel, give in to temptation and give this a go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Yep, other than playing the very first one (or the remake when that comes out) this is easily the best start point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 11 hours ago, regemond said: So, would this be a good introduction to the series? I've got Yakuza 3 and 4 on PS3 but never touched them and I don't know whether to start them first or, as this is a prequel, give in to temptation and give this a go? Yeah, definitely. Start with this, then you'll be able to play the Yakuza 1 remake (Kiwami) in the Summer when it comes out. Y2 is more of a side-story really so isn't essential but if you wanted to you could watch a play through or all the cut scenes on YT (as it's a rare PS2 game to get ahold of) but it's not essential. Y3 is more of a continuation of the Kiryu's overarching plot and it's pretty much a blank slate so you won't miss anything really by skipping 2. If you like the series then you can easily then play through Y4 and Y5 as well before Yakuza 6 gets here in early 2018 and you'll be up to date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Another 4 hours played today, 22ish total. Dossed about with the Pocket Rocket car racing (or whatever it's called) for a while, bought a load of new parts for it yesterday and thought I'd win the Pro-Am race easily but I got absolutely mullered. Back to the drawing board, few more parts bought and I was still losing, had a re-jig, dropped a few things like the stabilisers etc. and put more speed into the car at the expense of acceleration and finally managed to win it, it was nail biting stuff at times though as my car kept flying over one of the edges on the 2nd to last lap about 3 times in a row. A couple of weird side quests opened up because of this, one where this kid challenged me to a race to impress his girlfriend which was funny, and then once that was over she said she would be my girlfriend and give me her 'special something' if I managed to beat her, bearing in mind she was a kid it was fucking weird, Kiryu was weirded out by it too...beat her and she insisted I was her 'Boyfriend', luckily her special thing was something innocuous *phew* Went back to the Erotic video place as I'd picked up a load of cards, had quite a few lasses in there unlocked so watched a few videos, so fucking weird and funny at the same time, my old man was watching as I watched them too and he found the whole thing fucking bizarre and hilarious too...of course this ended up unlocking a side quest with some perv who was obsessed with a certain girl and always rented the same tape, ended up watching the video with him in the same booth (which was fucking funny watching Kiryu get all creeped out by this dude) then tracked her down for him in Kamurocho, only to find that she actually fell in love with Kiryu and rejected the pervy chap after all that. Tried the catfighting too, some of those outfits :shock: pretty damn revealing, so damn weird and hilarious, didn't really get on with it too much, tried betting 29 million a few times to see if I could win the tournament and win a shit-load of cash but it didn't quite work out, so I reloaded my save, just put the 2 million on and managed to win 1 fight, lost the next though and gave up on it, bastard hard and seems like the AI is too damn clever to defeat, have to have a whole load of luck to get through seemingly, not sure I'll be going back to this too much. Dabbled around with the Real Estate stuff too, wasn't really sure how to go about buying buildings, ended up just running around in the neighbourhood where Serena is hoping it would give me the 'Look' prompt to enable me to buy something, sure enough it did and I parted with 18 million Yen for a Pachinko parlour, had another mad side quest where I had to write in a postcard of my adventures in Kamurocho to a popular radio station too Then carried on with the story, quite a lot of action in Chapter 6, wave after wave of enemies at one point culminating in another boss battle against Kuze, the cutscene after you defeat him with Nishiki is fucking incredible as well, amazingly well acted and something straight out of a film, some of the very best writing and cinematography I've ever seen in a video game, truly amazing. What a scene! Heartbreaking to see Nishiki turn on Kiryu like that and Kiryu just accepting his fate in his traditionally stoic way, so damn brilliant. So yeah, up to Chapter 7 now and back in Osaka with Majima for the time being. It's by far and away my favourite Yakuza game of the series, the story and writing is incredible, the game is ridiculously deep and filled with SO much stuff to do it's unreal and it has such a unique zany vibe to it which contrasts surprisingly well against the seriousness of the story beats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeFour Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 This game is nuts. I love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisturbedSwan Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Played another 12 hours since my last post, up to about 34 hours in total now. Made some progress in the story, now up to Chapter 10. Both Kiryu and Majima's story's have been excellent but there's something truly special with Majima's, I just cannot wait to see what happens next in that particular arc, there's been so many twists and turns along the way, characters you genuinely care for (I adore Makoto) and I fucking love Majima, such a fucking legend. Kiryu's side of things is slightly more predictable in nature, but it's great how the game really makes it feel like the odds are stacked against you, more than any past Yakuza game I'd say, going back to Kamurocho with the whole of the Dojima family after you and the climactic show down against Kuze/Awano before getting rescued by Tachibana just such an incredible sequence. Love how the two story's are now beginning to entwine as well, with the reveal of Tachibana's Bat Tattoo at the beginning of Chapter 10, pointing to him being the one that abused Makoto (and trafficked a load of other women) in Osaka. Dabbled around with the Hostess stuff, picked up a load in Sotonbori, buying them gifts and whatnot, gave the actual mini-game a go too and thought it was pretty good, not sure if it's something I'll stick with though as there seems to be a lot of luck involved, the Real Estate stuff on Kiryu's side is much more my cup of tea really, so incredibly addictive, managed to buy all the buildings in the Leisure King area and defeat him in battle so I get 50 million Yen everytime I collect in that area, all the other areas have opened up too and I'm desperate to take them all over and become King of Kamurocho in due course. I think money makes such a huge difference in this game, I'm already at 200 million Yen and can make another 50 million every 10 minutes or so thanks to the Leisure King properties alone, in previous games I felt hindered by not being able to buy the more expensive weapons, items etc. in stores and I was always worried about spending too much money on mini-games as there was so little of it to go around, but with this, you're absolutely rolling in it so even a million is a drop in the ocean, fucking fantastic. Also thought I'd mention I got the now infamous Dominatrix side-quest earlier and it was bloody amazing THIS GAME MAN, THIS GAME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeFour Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I think I started to get the hang of the sunshine club. Needed more girls really to cater to the differing tastes. Got a full house now. Just need to tweak them so I've got all bases covered. Not sure I'll spend much time with it though. Doesn't seem to make anywhere near as much for the effort compared to the real estate. I'll have to see how it expands as I haven't dealt with the pudgey man yet. Spoiler The reveal of the bat tattoo on his arm is a twister isn't it I reckon not all is as it seems with that. He seems too honourable. We'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 @ThreeFourI love how much of a soap opera this game is, that moment in particular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeFour Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Yeah. This game makes me smile everytime I put it on. Nice cheesy story with silly distractions. Missus walked in on me the other night whilst I was touching up my hostess makeup... she gave me a strange look "what the hell are you playing?!" Think I'll continue the story tonight. I'll settle down with side missions when I can flit between the two protagonist I think. Maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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