• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Yakuza Series Starter Guide | Welcome to Kamurocho

IrishNinja

Member
tP3XXHu.jpg


Hello GAF!

We here at Yakuza-GAF are most excited for Sega localizing 0 (with a physical release, even!) next January, and wanted to spread the word on how great this series is, and how this is the perfect time to get into the series. To that end, a few of us have worked on a series primer to help introduce folks to the series proper.

To begin, let's discuss what Yakuza is, and isn't.

pMHaFic.jpg


BgRNmY4.jpg


Yakuza is not GTA

Back in '06 when Sega was first pushing to introduce the series out west, they not only hired some interesting vocal talent for the dub (thankfully ditched by 2), the marketing push gave some a warped defintion of what the series was about. Given that GTA clones were doing well at the time, this was understandable but still seems to have left an image that isn't accurate: while you're definitely busting heads & enjoying a wide variety of activities/mini-games, you're not destroying the city...well, any moreso than the plot calls for.

Kamurocho is a big district with lots to do, but it's best to understand that it's not the same wide-open sandbox experience many western open world games shoot for.

Likewise, it's not Shenmue

Yu Suzuki followed his history of simulators with his magnum opus, and while the attention to detail & other elements clearly influenced Naghoshi in this franchise, the latter is not trying to be the former. To quote a gaffer: "Yakuza is a brawler at heart, with adventure aspects. Shenmue is the direct opposite, a pure adventure game that very occasionally has a few fights."

It is very possible to love both series for different reasons, as tone, pacing, and the very nature of the games are quite different.

So, what then is Yakuza?


Yakuza is an action-brawler RPG, or a beat-em-up RPG if that works for you.
It's a sometimes serious crime drama infused with a strong sense of manly-tears-fist-to-the-sky type melodrama that keeps the series from taking itself too seriously.
I'ts a series where the last entry alone had me curbstomping dudes, driving taxis, playing baseball, hunting bears, training to be a J-pop idol, and smacking hooligans with bicycles for scuffing my shoes.

There's a lot to love here for classic Sega type fans - right up to DMC & Bayonetta people, as the combat ranges from simplistic to surprisingly in depth when you build it up with different characters/styles - but in its very DNA, you can see stuf like River City Ransom & Streets of Rage.

Also: be sure to check out Sega's Yakuza Experience!

=============================================================================================

- Frequently Asked Questions -

Q: Is Yakuza 0 a good entry point to the Yakuza series?
A: Yes, it is. Yakuza 0 is a prequel to the entire series. The story takes place before every other main title released in the past so you won’t have any problem understanding it.

Q: Why the big push for this one, then?
A: Again, we barely saw 5, so this is a clear sign Sega's looking to keep ths series out west - but it's not gonna be easy. It's a niche series, and dropping January 24th - which looks to be the same day as Resident Evil 7 & Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8, so we're trying to get interest & preorders in!

Q: Actually, how many Yakuza game are there? How many of them are canon?
A: Well if we take spin-off titles into account then the answer will be, 2 PSP titles and 10 home console games (6 main titles, 1 remake and 3 spin-offs). And soon to be 7 main titles with the release of Yakuza 6 exclusively for PS4.

Q: Whoa, that’s a lot! Does that include the Samurai games? What’s the deal with those? Are they canon and you play as your ancestor or something?
A: That number did include Kenzan and Ishin. But no, those game are not canon. They are spin-off samurai titles that take place in different time periods of Japan. Think of them as Yakuza’s take on some historical events. So they are not even direct sequels to each other. And before you get your hopes up, neither of them have been localized and released in the west.
There's a guide on how to play Kenzan right here, though!

Q: Ah, that’s a bummer. You did mentioned 3 spin-offs though, so what’s the other one? Has that one been localized?
A: Yakuza Dead Souls, the zombie spin-off. That one is Yakuza’s take on zombies and TPS games like Left 4 Dead and action Resident Evil titles. The game does have characters from the main series and takes place in a modern setting but the story is not canon and takes place in a timeline that some events of the main series happened differently.

Unlike the two samurai spin-offs, Yakuza Dead Souls has been localized and released in the west. Though, this a fun yet obviously flawed game so if you are not a fan of the series already before playing it then the chances are that you won’t like it.

Q: Are there any other good entry points to the main series besides Yakuza 0?
A: Well, Yakuza 1 would be the obvious answer - but Kiwami is a much better choice there!

While it’s true that most of the Yakuza titles have self-contained stories for the most part, but I think Yakuza 4 would be the best entry point beside Yakuza 0. Y4 introduces 3 new protagonists and the story mostly revolves around those three which makes it easier for newcomers to the series to understand and relate to it. Also the game has a recap section in its menu to bring you up to speed on the story of earlier titles.

Q: Speaking of Yakuza 1, I heard something about a remake that they made for it? Kiw-something? What’s the deal with that?
A: You are talking about Yakuza Kiwami. As you said, that’s a remake of the first Yakuza with added contents. The game has been built upon Yakuza 0’s foundations so it’ll feel pretty similar to that game. Unfortunately by the time we were writing this Q&A the game hadn’t been announced for localization so we don’t know if we’ll get it or not. But don’t let that discourage you. We still have Yakuza 0 to look forward to and I’m sure if it proves to be a profitable release in the west, Sega would be more than happy to bring the later titles in the Yakuza series to western markets.
*UPDATE: It's coming August 8/29/17!

Q: So how can I play chapters of the game after 0, then?
A: Well, 1 & 2 HD never came over sadly, so that leaves both the early PS2 games on ebay/amazon etc, where 1 isn't hard to find but 2 is quite pricey. Also bear in mind, 1 has dubbed voices, which some find off-putting, despite Mark Hamill. So yeah, go play Kiwami!

3 is likewise cheap, and 4, 5 & Dead Souls are all for sale on PSN, for PS3. 6 is coming early 2018!

Q; What about PC/steam?

A: Sadly, Sega has confirmed this is a PS4 exclusive (for the time) but hopefully the series migrates down the road, the way Binary Domain did!

jRKfNbK.gif


No Yakuza thread is complete without HyperBitHero's excellent video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkN9oru-qCQ
^this video is really fantastic! thorough with great information as it goes

8F8AaFZ.gif


also: Yakuza 5 is a Game That Lets You Fist Fight With a Bear

*much love to Son of Sparda for the awesome is/is not images, as well as helping me clean up this OP! shouts to Shadowman & more of Yakuza-GAF as well

9NHJtuGha.gif
 

IrishNinja

Member
ag4QDZe.jpg


Further reading! brought to you by Son of Sparda

- Gameplay in Yakuza series -

Well, now that you are a bit more familiar with the series, it’s time to go a little deeper into how it actually plays. Are you ready? Okay, here goes.

Gameplay in Yakuza series is consistent of two major parts. Exploration and Combat.

First off let’s start with exploration. Like most JRPGs the majority of your time in Yakuza series will be spent exploring the environment. During these parts you can pick up side quests, go to arcades, take part in any number of (many available) mini-games and activities, visit shops, buy items and gears etc. While you are exploring, there will be some unlucky guys/punks who try to pick a fight with you. You can avoid them if you are a little careful but if they manage to get a hold of you then you go into combat.

Now let’s explain the combat. The battles in Yakuza series can happen in one of two ways. I explained the first one above. The second form is the obvious one, which is when you follow the story and get into fights/boss battles that way. There is a third way which is the Coliseum (an arena in which you can go to fight and gain ranks and such) but that’s kind of an activity so it’s mostly optional.

Anyway, let’s get down to how combat actually plays. You have three main attack buttons in the combat. Square for light attacks (LA), Triangle as strong attacks (SA) and Circle as Grab (G). You can also use Cross to Dodge attacks and readjust your position in battle and one of the shoulder buttons is Guard.

There is possible to chain attacks by combining LA and SA. Also you can use G not only to grab on enemy but pick up weapons and fight with those. As you fight and progress through battles you gain XP which eventually lead to leveling up and giving you Soul Points. Use these points to unlock new attacks, defense options such as parry, better health, expand your heat bar and even gain new heat moves.

Wait, did I explain Heat? No? Well, silly me. In Yakuza series beneath your health bar, you have another bar called Heat bar. Heat fills as you beat up punks and chain attacks without getting hit. Once the Heat bar reaches a certain amount your character starts emitting a blue aura. This means that you are ready to give the next level of beating to these punks in the form of heat moves. Heat moves are short powerful contextual attacks that you can pull off only when you have enough heat and are in certain situations. When the conditions have been met you’ll see a small Triangle button prompt at the right corner of your screen, signaling that you can initiate the heat move by pushing the button right now.

Heat moves vary a lot. From smashing a dude’s face into the wall and then kicking it once again just to be sure, all the way to smacking grizzly bears with your super punches.

While the Heat moves are pretty crazy and awesome, it needs noting that these are still optional moves and in a lot of situations you don’t even need to use them. So, if you hate losing control of your character (even for a little bit) and would rather just continue with the raw combat, then you can just do that.

Anyway, these were the basics of gameplay in Yakuza series. Now, if you are still not tired of reading my rants I thank you and say that next up we are gonna go over what exactly is new in Yakuza 0, when it comes to combat.

- What’s New In Yakuza 0's Combat? -

Well the basics that we explained above almost all apply here as well but there are some big changes in this game that we’ll try to go over them now. By far the biggest change in Yakuza 0 is the Style system that has been introduced for the first time (and probably the last, going by Yakuza 6) in the main series.

By now you must know that Yakuza 0 has two playable characters. Kazuma Kiryu the main protagonist of the series, and the Mad Dog Goro Majima, the long time badass support character of the series that everyone wanted to play as for years.

In Yakuza 0 each of these characters have three different play styles which you can switch in between them, real time in midst of battle using D-Pad. Now, let’s go over each style and tell a little bit about them.

We’ll start with Kiryu since he has been series protag for a long time. Kiryu has three styles which are called Brawler, Rush and Beast.

Brawler (Blue): This is the blue colored style in which Kiryu’s fighting is most similar to his earlier iterations in past titles. While it plays very good the actual moves and animations make you feel like you are actually playing as a lot less refined Kiryu in his 20s. Most of your heat moves are available in this style and it has a balance between quickness and strength. Also, you can pick up and use weapons in this style.

Rush (Pink): This is by far the quickest style in the game. Kiryu’s attacks are a lot faster but don’t really pack a punch. Guard in this style has been replaced by a quick instill dodge that lets you avoid the incoming attacks and immediately go back to landing hits. A very cool feature in this style is that as your heat bar goes up your speed actually increases with it. So the fights in this style could become really fast and fluid.

Beast (Yellow): Well, it’s in the name. Your attacks and general movements are a lot slower this time but they pack a hell of a punch. You can imagine Kiryu to be like a grizzly bear in this style. You won’t even have a guard option in this style and instead the guard button lets Kiryu just takes in the hits (and stand still like they are nothing) and get heat from them. Also a very cool feature of this style is that Kiryu just naturally picks up on things and use them when you are beating up the fools who have dared to fight you. It really feels natural and both enjoyable to see and play.

Now, let’s go over to Majima and his three styles which are called Thug, Slugger and Breaker. The names alone should tell how much crazier this character is.

Thug (Blue): This is basically the equivalent of Kiryu’s Brawler style, though the actual moves and combos are completely different. Also, if we are comparing them, then I gotta say that the way Majima attacks, his animations, his quickness and overall feel of combat really makes you feel like you are playing as professional who knows his way around battles compared to the inexperienced Kiryu.

Breaker (Pink): Now this is absolutely crazy. Majima dances away in this style doing spins and hitting enemies with his fast leg attacks while making poses in midst of battle. Actually keeping your pose will make it so you get more heat so the goal is to be fast, look sick as hell and taunt your enemies while you beat them to the inch of their lives. Like Kiryu’s Rush style, the moves don’t hit that hard but the quickness and crowd control moves more than make up for it.

Slugger (Yellow): This style is one of the most amazing things that we’ve ever seen in the series. Majima just loves Baseball and carries a Baseball Bat with him at all times. This style completely focuses on that side of the character and I gotta say the things that he does with the Bat are absolutely amazing. This is a Bat but Majima will use it like Nunchuks, Katana, some sort of Gymnastic instrument... The team was so imaginative with this particular style and it really shows.

So, these were the changes that Yakuza 0 brings to the traditional formula of Yakuza series. Fingers crossed that I didn’t put any of you guys to sleep. Also, not to spoil anything but if you want to get even more out of combat then I strongly recommend you to finish each character’s Sphere Grid. *Wink Wink*

G1Kwc2F.jpg


- Hype-beast Tizoc droppin' knowledge -

HlokIrN.jpg


The Yakuza team know that if they’re going to sell you a $60 (or equivalent) priced game, they want the player to get their money’s worth, and nothing says that better than the various mini games you can play in the series.

Yakuza 0 features dozens of mini games that you can play from time to time when not on a main story mission. The inclusion of them adds to the immersion of the setting as these would be activities one would normally do in Kamuro-cho.

Playing mini games requires Yen of course, and they can be so addicting that you would find yourself having spent or put in many hours just playing these mini games. ...and hey if you happen to be low on Yen to continue playing your fav. Mini games, there is surely a bunch of stupid mooks just around the corner to profit off of their cracked skulls.

Picture this, you’ve just spent a long hard day’s work of beating the shit out of street thugs, and fighting off people trying to muscle in on your turf, what better way for a badass manly Yakuza to cool off some steam then rock it out at a Karaoke.

The Karaoke mini game in the Yakuza series takes the form of a rhythm game. The character sings a song and you press the buttons on screen at the right time to rack up score points. The better you perform the higher your score of course and some songs have a higher difficulty to test your skills with.

Aw5WMAE.jpg


....but that’s not all! Just across the street is a SEGA Arcade center wherein you can immerse yourself in some of the hit arcade titles of the era, namely Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, Super Hang-On...


AND
MUTHA
EFFIN’
OUTRUN


FRIKKIN’OUTRUN YO!

Impress the hot blonde chick in your passenger seat as you show off your awesome driving skills navigating the road and dodging oncoming vehicles while blasting some of SEGA’s best music tracks of the era.

The night is still young and there are still more. Why not hit up the dance floor and show off your dance skills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoHACZdTF8U

But maybe you want to pass the time at a bar, which Kamuro-cho has many of. The fancier bars also allow you to play Darts and Pool...and you can even play them while drunk!

Both mini games have various styles of play as well as difficulty levels, although you can always play by yourself.

z9aPOFg.jpg


Various Asian board and gambling games are accessible in the game such as Shogi, Mahjong,

Kindly be informed that we do not guarantee crazy awesome Akagi or Mudazumo-level Mahjong matches occurring in your playthrough, but it is an interesting game once you get in the groove.

Batting and Bowling centers are also available!

Be it day or night, rain or shine, you can cast your line in a minigame that is best described as Man vs. Fish. Just about anything Kiryu or Majima can eat can be used as bait, and the bigger the catch the more money you can make from it.

In addition to all these awesome pass times, you can eventually participate in fighting tournaments in 1v1 fights. Winning tournaments yields item rewards as well as EXP.

P1etgQa.gif
 

IrishNinja

Member
Best thread on GAF ever

good work on the thread

thanks ya'll! i know it's a long series & people don't always know where to start or what to expect, we were figuring 0 is not only perfect for a jump-on but also important since it kinda feels like the series being given a 2nd chance & all. couldn'tve done any of this without yakuza-GAF!

Wait what is with that last pic?!?!

a small window of the zaniness within
 

silva1991

Member
Thanks! have been waiting for thread like this.

Did the older games age well? I will start with 0 since it's a prequel(and new looks so good visually)
 

bigkrev

Member
I played about 80% of Yakuza 4 late last year/early this year, and really enjoyed what I played, even though I felt compelled to use a strategy guide the entire time- the Substories all seemed like things I would never naturally encounter, but were critical to my enjoyment of the game. I also felt the game did a terrible job guiding me to my objectives, but was willing to overlook that stuff because the game was old. I'm probably buying Zero on release, but I really hope they fix my issues with that stuff because I'm not going to be as forgiving this time around.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Fantastic thread Irish and good job with organizing all the information!

Really hoping that Zero will help put more people into the series. That and maybe push the US side to bringing Kiwami out next if Zero does well enough.

Then in Japan we can only hope that 2 will also get the Kiwami treatment for the PS4.

Btw Irish you forgot to add in the link to the Kenzan guide stuff you mentioned in the Q&A section.
 
Thanks! have been waiting for thread like this.

Did the older games age well? I will start with 0 since it's a prequel(and new looks so good visually)

The graphics are rough, and 1 had a very poor localization, but the core games are still fun, and the stories are great (especially 2, which is the high point of the series).

Going back to them after newer games will definitely feel like a step back though because of how much each game has improved on the previous one in the game play department.

I played about 80% of Yakuza 4 late last year/early this year, and really enjoyed what I played, even though I felt compelled to use a strategy guide the entire time- the Substories all seemed like things I would never naturally encounter, but were critical to my enjoyment of the game. I also felt the game did a terrible job guiding me to my objectives, but was willing to overlook that stuff because the game was old. I'm probably buying Zero on release, but I really hope they fix my issues with that stuff because I'm not going to be as forgiving this time around.

In 5, all substories were marked on the map, so they were very easy to find without ever resorting to a guide.
 

grimmiq

Member
Played through and loved Yakuza 3,4,5, though 5 did go a bit over the top with playable characters. Really looking forward to 0, Kiwami and 6
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
The graphics are rough, and 1 had a very poor localization, but the core games are still fun, and the stories are great (especially 2, which is the high point of the series).

Going back to them after newer games will definitely feel like a step back though because of how much each game has improved on the previous one in the game play department.



In 5, all substories were marked on the map, so they were very easy to find without ever resorting to a guide.

I still think also that 2 had some of the BEST heat actions as that game had so many unique anims for the various objects you could use and the double team stuff was cool.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Thanks! have been waiting for thread like this.

Did the older games age well? I will start with 0 since it's a prequel(and new looks so good visually)

awesome! and i think so, but there's some stuff to bear in mind: 1 is dubbed, and has loading around the city, controls a bit stiffer/wonky, etc. It's why many of us are hoping Kiwami (a complete HD redo of 1) gets localized as well, 2 improves these things a whole lot but i wanna say you're still not gonna see sidequests/etc on the map as later installments do.
the series basically gets better as it goes, control-wise and variety of mini-games/etc

No Yakuza thread is complete without HyperBitHero's excellent video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkN9oru-qCQ

damn, forgot how good/thorough this is - adding to OP, thanks man!

I played about 80% of Yakuza 4 late last year/early this year, and really enjoyed what I played, even though I felt compelled to use a strategy guide the entire time- the Substories all seemed like things I would never naturally encounter, but were critical to my enjoyment of the game. I also felt the game did a terrible job guiding me to my objectives, but was willing to overlook that stuff because the game was old. I'm probably buying Zero on release, but I really hope they fix my issues with that stuff because I'm not going to be as forgiving this time around.

ah, for real? i adore 4, but i can tell you by 5 they literally show you most of the substories on the map when you get full control of a given character, so that should hopefully be more to your liking! i wanna say 6 definitely kept this, 0 should hopefully too.

Fantastic thread Irish and good job with organizing all the information!

Really hoping that Zero will help put more people into the series. That and maybe push the US side to bringing Kiwami out next if Zero does well enough.

Then in Japan we can only hope that 2 will also get the Kiwami treatment for the PS4.

Btw Irish you forgot to add in the link to the Kenzan guide stuff you mentioned in the Q&A section.

thanks man - and ah, good eye! that's my guide too, haha

I still think also that 2 had some of the BEST heat actions as that game had so many unique anims for the various objects you could use and the double team stuff was cool.

yeah...many argue 2 as one of the best entries the series has seen, kills me that it's so pricey (as a late PS2 release & all) and not on PSN, nevermind us entirely missing 1/2 HD out here. i wanna say i've read on yakuzafan about nagoshi & co talking about maybe giving 2 the kiwami treatment? god i'd love that, and the engine work is already done too!
 

Cess007

Member
Incredible thread.

My introduction to the serie was Yakuza 3, so it will always be the one I keep closer to my heart. However, I would lie if I don't admit that Yakuza 5 is my favorite one.

Hopefully with the release of Y0, more people gives the serie a chance.
 

navii

My fantasy is that my girlfriend was actually a young high school girl.
Good work in the thread OP. I'm pumped for this game.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
yeah...many argue 2 as one of the best entries the series has seen, kills me that it's so pricey (as a late PS2 release & all) and not on PSN, nevermind us entirely missing 1/2 HD out here. i wanna say i've read on yakuzafan about nagoshi & co talking about maybe giving 2 the kiwami treatment? god i'd love that, and the engine work is already done too!

Yeah outside of how amusing it was seeing Kokusaidori in Oki recreated in 3, must say that 2 had the most of my memories just due to how good the combat was. Plus great characters in the game.

Really am hoping for a Kiwami ver of 2.

Btw how come the US ver of 2 is so pricey? Did they do a super limited print or something? Am not familiar at all with the whole situation on the Western versions of the games thats why.
 
Thread is finally up!

Good work on the OP everyone. Tizoc, Irish and anyone else who have contributed to the thread. Hopefully this'll prove useful to people who are trying to get into the series.

And last but definitely not the least, special shout out to my friend Shadowman16 for providing me with amazing Yakuza 0 shots for the images in the OP. You rock, man :)
 
Fantastic work on the thread you guys!! Hopefully this'll encourage more newcomers to jump into the series because it really is quite unique.
 

KrisB

Member
Great thread, good to see new people enjoying the series.

I've finished 3 and 4, working my way through 5 when I get time.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
As a casual fan who recently got into the series, 4 is a very good starting point. Going through all of the older games seems daunting and 4 starts a brand new story arc - plus, it has recaps of the first three games.
 
Beautiful thread.

Count me among the people who started with Yakuza 4. I actually played Binary Domain first, and I enjoyed it so much that when I found out it was from the devs of the Yakuza series I always intended to check these games out. I only ended up getting around to it when Yakuza 4 came to Playstation Plus, and within an hour or so I was absolutely hooked. One of those beautiful "Where has this game been all my life?" moments.

Since then I've played all five numbered games and Dead Souls, and I loved them all to varying degrees (hot take: 2 > 4 > 5 > 3 > Dead Souls > 1). I actually don't think there's much problem with playing the games out of order, because the stories are all self-contained with no over-arching narrative. You of course miss out on some of the nuance and in-jokes, but I definitely don't think it's a series that absolutely must be played in release order like, say, MGS. Yakuza 4, with the introduction of the new characters, is a perfect place to jump in.

I already have 0 pre-ordered, and I'm all set with my rusty pitchfork and torch just in case Sony doesn't announce a Yakuza 6 localisation at PSX this year. These games have actually been a major factor in my going back to my Japanese language studies, too. It's something I've always wanted to do, after taking Japanese lessons all the way through Primary and High School, but all these un-localised Ryu ga Gotoku games have put me over the edge. I played the demo of Ishin from the Japanese PSN and I got the gist of what was going on, but I'm not ready to play a full game in Japanese yet.
 
Btw how come the US ver of 2 is so pricey? Did they do a super limited print or something? Am not familiar at all with the whole situation on the Western versions of the games thats why.

First game mega bombed in the US. Since 2 wasn't expected to sell very well, and was a PS2 game coming out 2 years after the PS3 released in the US, it got a fairly limited run.

It became somewhat rare early on, but it used to be that you could still buy it for a reasonable price if you could find it (I got a copy for $20 in 2009), but in the last couple of years it's become really rare and expensive.
 

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, 4 is absolutely a great jump-on point, and the catch-up videos are great too...but i know that can be off-putting for people, hearing about how they're missing okinawa in 3, the fantastic setting/plot of 2, etc etc. still, it can be found on & offline for a song, and it's still one my absolute favorites!

also, tidied up the OP a bit, thanks again Sparda.
 

rawbhawb

Member
Yeah, I've been wanting to try the series out, so a prequel coming to the west (with the release date being near my birthday) gives me no excuse. Very much looking forward to it!
 
also, tidied up the OP a bit, thanks again Sparda.
No problem :)

And hey we actually managed to convince someone to give the series a go! Thread redeemed already!

Pre-ordered based entirely on your pitch.

I really hope you enjoy the series like we guys at Yakuza-GAF do. It's really hard to describe it but I won't be lying in saying that this series feels like some kind of magic. It's so good and enjoyable that once it gets you hooked you just can't leave it :)
 

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
YES! Great thread Irish :)

Of course Yakuza 0 shall be day one for me like every other Yakuza title released in the west. Can't wait. (and trying to ignore any Y6 spoilers come December whilst praying for a western release)
 

Rymuth

Member
Great OP. Been with this series since the very first entry. I consider myself a faithful die-hard fan.

As for the Ishin/Kenzan games - I tend to think of Kenzan as canonical (with it MC being Kazuma's ancestor) and Ishin as a movie being acted by Kazuma and company.

But that's just my silly headcanon

:p
 
Thread is finally up!

Good work on the OP everyone. Tizoc, Irish and anyone else who have contributed to the thread. Hopefully this'll prove useful to people who are trying to get into the series.

And last but definitely not the least, special shout out to my friend Shadowman16 for providing me with amazing Yakuza 0 shots for the images in the OP. You rock, man :)

Happy to help with the pictures :) They turned out really good, glad to see my arcade picture was used, that was one of my favourites!

Awesome info in this thread, hopefully it helps a few more people jump on board with the series, I'd love for it to at least become a niche success (it deserves at least that) and I guess it helps that 0 is one of the best entries in the series in recent memory.

And for those that can't wait for Yakuza 6 - don't forget that the Japanese demo is due out Tuesday and will include the whole first chapter. Probably want to avoid it if you've not played 5 though, seeing as the story picks up right after 5 finishes so the intro would be fairly heavy on the spoilers.
 

Tizoc

Member
Now you got what you need to know about this fantastic series and its upcoming title this January.
Go get it and discover awesomeness.
 
Yakuza Zero in two months.

Then import Kiwami to endure drought. And pray for 6 to come soon here.

Kenzan is good but Ishin is the true GOAT
 
Yakuza Zero in two months.

Then import Kiwami to endure drought. And pray for 6 to come soon here.

Kenzan is good but Ishin is the true GOAT

I preferred Kenzan over Ishin for some reason. Maybe its because of the annoying amount of leveling required in Ishin before you got all the good combat related stuff, or because the battle dungeons and 100% completion was such a damn grind...
I really need to replay Kenzan sometime though, see if its aged gameplay wise or not (plus I still need to actually do an Amon run, its the only game I've never beaten him in).

Drought wise - I've got my order planned out - import 6 in December. Once I'm done I'll do an English run of 0. Then I'll do 4 at some stage throughout the year as its been so long since I played it. Then Black Panther 2 on the PSP (never played it) and then if I have time, Kenzan! Unless we get another Yakuza game (in Japan) next year. Hopefully Kiwami 2.
 

bluethree

Member
I loved 1 back in the day, didn't enjoy 2 so much because of the rehashing of the Tokyo setting (Osaka felt too small), then came back to the series this year and came to terms with the setting reuse and ended up loving 3. I still kinda wish they'd focus only on one city each game and make it more in depth, but it was still fantastic. I've played a bit of 5 too before getting distracted with Persona, and I really want to get back into that soon.
 
Top Bottom