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Yakuza 0 |OT| Yes, you can start with this one!
- Thread starter IrishNinja
- Start date
I've watched my brother play through some Yakuza games before, but I've never played through one myself until I started this a couple of weeks ago. What an awesome game. The whole Real Estate Investment system is addicting too, and that came out of nowhere. I also had a weird moment where I recognized some girl's face in the game and realized she does porn.
lucebuce12
Member
That happens a lot.
I haven't unlocked the Cabaret Club game yet, but I'm guessing I'm going to soon based on how I just got control of Majima for the second time. But I can easily see what you mean about the real estate. Running around the same blocks over and over to beat up guys stopping me from making money, and then just endlessly putting out and taking in all my cash can get job-like. Plus I keep forgetting to keep any of it to upgrade my abilities.
Son Of Sparda
Member
Oh you, lol
TheWorthyEdge
Member
Oh shiiiiiiit! Majima pulled out
mods if you're watching...TAG MATERIAL
I love the story in this game but as a newcomer it's kinda hard to follow the families and such. Is there a place I can go to see the trees?
Also another question. Does the story only get better? Cuz this is some top notch stuff and continuously keeps me enthralled the deeper on travel down this hole.
I'm talking to Yamanoi right now about the 5 billionaires.
So glad I listened to Ben Moore and Michael Huber (as well as GAF) on this one. It's a gem.
Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
For the most part, yes. It does get a bit dumb towards the end, but pretty mildly, compared to some of the other twists throughout the series.
lucebuce12
Member
In terms of story, Yakuza 0 is one of the best in the series. Just all around rewarding.
- Yakuza 1/Kiwami has a pretty solid story but it's fairly "standard". Not amazing, but not bad either.
- Yakuza 2 is just godlike. From beginning to end, that game's story is an absolute joyride complete with some INSANE moments. A lot of people will say that Y0's story is on the same level as Y2's, but I personally put Y2's just a notch above.
- Yakuza 3 is a bit unstable. In terms of highs, it has some of the most personable and just straight up moving moments in the series (one moment legit made me cry. Last game to do that was The Walking Dead: Season 1). But it also has it's lows. Some stuff that's a bit hard to swallow in terms of believability but all around, definitely worth playing. Ending is
terrific.
- Yakuza 4 and 5 both have a similar issue. The stories in the game are too long, and way too spreadout. It gets difficult to care about the story after a while. But what saves it is how incredibly fantastic the characters are and just how well done the chapters are. Akiyama's chapter in Y4 is just straight up Noir. Yakuza 5's chapter for Kiryu is incredible, and Shinada's chapter in Y5 is.... really something to experience it's very well done. But be prepared for some moments similar to this.
All in all, the PRESENTATION remains just as good throughout the series. Even if the story isn't the best, the amazing voicework, the cutscenes and the general movie-grade quality of the presentation will keep you entertained.
The trick is to do it in unison. IE fully upgrade Kyriu's real estate buisness,(including using CP on the upgrades that speed up the timers) then start the timers. After that switch to Majima and play the Caberet Club Mini Game. After you finish, walk back into your office, switch characters, collect the money from real estate, reset the timers and then go back to the Club.
With Kyriu fully levelled up you can make around 1.5B every cycle (5 minutes?) Not sure about the Cabaret Club as I'm not doing it the most efficient way. However fully levelled up, thats probably going to put you at over 2B every 5 minutes.
I spent like three hours just doing real state stuff with Kazuma, clearing quests and making friends with NPCs.
This game is pretty fantastic in how there's so much synergy in its systems. Like you gain CP by doing pretty much everything, and you can spend it in skills that help you make those things easier/faster, and by looking for extra stuff to do to gain CP you explore more of the game and try the different mini games and clear quests, and all of them are connected in some way to the characters' jobs, it's so well thought.
I'm a bit discouraged with Kazuma's job though. I got motivated to do the entire substory after learning about the rewards, but it took so long to defeat only the Leisure King... And now there's 4 more of them sure I could wait for platinum adventure, but by then the rewards would be pointless.
This game is pretty fantastic in how there's so much synergy in its systems. Like you gain CP by doing pretty much everything, and you can spend it in skills that help you make those things easier/faster, and by looking for extra stuff to do to gain CP you explore more of the game and try the different mini games and clear quests, and all of them are connected in some way to the characters' jobs, it's so well thought.
I'm a bit discouraged with Kazuma's job though. I got motivated to do the entire substory after learning about the rewards, but it took so long to defeat only the Leisure King... And now there's 4 more of them
sure I could wait for platinum adventure, but by then the rewards would be pointless.Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
I spent like three hours just doing real state stuff with Kazuma, clearing quests and making friends with NPCs.
This game is pretty fantastic in how there's so much synergy in its systems. Like you gain CP by doing pretty much everything, and you can spend it in skills that help you make those things easier/faster, and by looking for extra stuff to do to gain CP you explore more of the game and try the different mini games and clear quests, and all of them are connected in some way to the characters' jobs, it's so well thought.
I'm a bit discouraged with Kazuma's job though. I got motivated to do the entire substory after learning about the rewards, but it took so long to defeat only the Leisure King... And now there's 4 more of them
You can still use the rewards during New Game+!
Leveling up your shops in the last area takes so long that even if I had made it that far during the main game, I'd have stopped at that point.
Oh boy, okay, I guess expecting to finish this before beating the game and somehow not getting tired of it is pretty much impossible. I guess I'll try to progress through these naturally and finish the rest in platinum adventure or something. Can platinum progress be used when starting an NG+ file?
Also does Majima's job take just as long? That one's hilarious and kinda fun so I want to complete it as well.
I was trying to avoid NG+ since I'm drowning in games and Kiwami is getting near, but what the hell, this game deserves it.
brickarts295
Member
Just finished, man what damn good fucking game that was. Haven't feel like this since when I discover the Persona franchise. So glad I gave the franchise a shot.
I'm hooked in for the franchise, got that Kiwami pre-order. Will have to find out a way to play the rest before 6 or watch a marathon of recap movies on Youtube.
Now If you'll excuse I'm gonna play more of that Cabaret minigame which strangely became one of my favorite things about this game XD.
I'm hooked in for the franchise, got that Kiwami pre-order. Will have to find out a way to play the rest before 6 or watch a marathon of recap movies on Youtube.
Now If you'll excuse I'm gonna play more of that Cabaret minigame which strangely became one of my favorite things about this game XD.
More_Badass
Member
Whoever said the sidestories/side missions are hilarious and excellent, you weren't kidding. For one, I like that they aren't marked on the map. You stumble into them, or overhear something. It makes the city feel alive and dynamic.
And so far, they've been fascinating. Partially because the culture and idiosyncrasies are completely unknown to me as an American, so every little story is really interesting. But also how funny and charming they are, and the few I've done so far have barely involved combat. Plus you get to pick dialogue choices, which I wasn't expecting. It's an interesting juxtaposition compared to the main story.
Only on Chapter 2 btw
And so far, they've been fascinating. Partially because the culture and idiosyncrasies are completely unknown to me as an American, so every little story is really interesting. But also how funny and charming they are, and the few I've done so far have barely involved combat. Plus you get to pick dialogue choices, which I wasn't expecting. It's an interesting juxtaposition compared to the main story.
Only on Chapter 2 btw
Yes. Once you have finished the game, you can create a new "game clear save" at any time that retains the many of the things you have unlocked. Although sidequests reset.
Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
Majima's business quest takes a long time as well, but the last area isn't nearly as much of a slog.
And yeah, you can carry over your Premium Adventure progress to New Game+ as well.
The exception is the unlockable Legend difficulty, you have to start from scratch everytime. Even if you have a completed Legend difficulty file, you can only carry over that progress to either Hard or below.
TheWorthyEdge
Member
After I beat the story am I able to simply drop back into the city to do side quests?
lucebuce12
Member
Yes. You can do Premium Adventure Mode where you literally are just dropped into the city after having completed the story. You can do all substories and side activities that you haven't done already, and are free to engage in any of the playspots and fun stuff that you want to do.
You can also do all substories before triggering the final part of the game (The game makes it abundantly clear when it's going to end) but you can also do them AFTER finishing the story.
More_Badass
Member
Tell me about it. I couldn't believe it. Like I love crime thriller/dramas, and games never really pull those off that well compared to comics, movies, etc. So to get that from the game I was expecting to be some silly wacky story was jaw-dropping. I'm only on chapter 2 btw.
Is there any chance of the PS2/PS3 games coming to PS Now? After 0, I'm going to want to check out the rest of the series
Man I feel so bummed out now that I've finished it
It ended so well too, I don't even want to go back. Why is life so boring now.
If that's your sentiment and you're only on chapter 2, this game will blow your mind then :lol:
It ended so well too, I don't even want to go back. Why is life so boring now.
If that's your sentiment and you're only on chapter 2, this game will blow your mind then :lol:
TheWorthyEdge
Member
Just got done with Chapter 5. Right when I think the stories going this way it veers to somewhere totally different.
I'm a sucker for crime stories in media and have never paid much attention to any Japanese Crime anything. This is great. I love the bonds they have with the family members and how much respect is involved. There's something about the pacing of this game that just clicks. It makes the game so much more spontaneous. I'm singing karoake and then something crazy happens, or something along those lines. I'm a conossieur of plot twists so I'm hoping there's one in here somewhere! So excited to see how the paths between the 2 characters cross, or even if they do. I know nothing about later Yakuza games so I don't know if the 2 protagonists even KNOW each other lol
I'm so excited to continue tomorrow. Will probably play a BUNCH. Wanna get done with the story first and finish some other games though before I jump back and beat some substories.
I'm a sucker for crime stories in media and have never paid much attention to any Japanese Crime anything. This is great. I love the bonds they have with the family members and how much respect is involved. There's something about the pacing of this game that just clicks. It makes the game so much more spontaneous. I'm singing karoake and then something crazy happens, or something along those lines. I'm a conossieur of plot twists so I'm hoping there's one in here somewhere! So excited to see how the paths between the 2 characters cross, or even if they do. I know nothing about later Yakuza games so I don't know if the 2 protagonists even KNOW each other lol
I'm so excited to continue tomorrow. Will probably play a BUNCH. Wanna get done with the story first and finish some other games though before I jump back and beat some substories.
lucebuce12
Member
You're gonna love this series.
TheWorthyEdge
Member
Stop it...if there's Ace Attorney levels of plot twists? Consider me in for every Yakuza to ever come out from 0 until the foreseeable future.
More_Badass
Member
I don't know if it's because I'm new to the series, but I hope the game keeps subverting my expectations. There were at least three or four times in chapters 1 and 2 where I thought "okay, time for a boss fight" or "now there's going to be a fight"...and then there wasn't.
Like in chapter 1,
when Kuze turns up in the loan shark's office, I was sure a boss fight was going to happen then
when Oda arrives with his men at the bar, I was totally expecting a fight
I like how it makes perfect sense character-wise that Kiryu would be just as likely to get into brutal brawls with yakuza as he is to help civilians with their problems. There's no dissonance between the two IMO compared to say Michael or Franklin doing side missions in GTA V
Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
Stop whatever else you're doing in the game!
Go visit the disco in the northern part of Kamurocho!
Dance!
Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
There's absolutely no purpose for Kiryu.
Majima has a reason to buy them, but wait until you actually know what exactly you need.
Kamoji appears in a parking lot somewhere in the northern part of the map. He should appear on the map as a little, faceless white dude. If the marker doesn't appear, his training is not available yet.
It's in a parking lot (iirc at the northeastern part of the map)
(It's also terrible )
Well, Kiryu is a romanticised version of the Yakuza (similar to how Samurai has been whitewashed as lone warriors protecting the innocents, this example comed full circle when Kiryu himself plays a samurai in spinoff games) who supposedly looked out for the civilians.
There are a couple of interviews on the series with real Yakuza and their views on it. A lot of them lament how 'the old guard' were just like Kiryu, helping the weak...one of them even had an orphanage, except it also doubled as a money laundering front
lucebuce12
Member
That's part of why I think Yakuza 0 in particular has a great story. Sometimes you have boss fights but neither of them severely hurt each other, sometimes you expect a boss fight but nothing happens and sometimes shit comes out of nowhere.
It's just something that remained from previous games. In almost every other Yakuza games, you can visit hostess bars and try to romance the hostesses there. Part of that is giving them gifts including purses, jewelry and perfumes.
In this game though, only Majima has any need for it. If you see a
woman in the city who can be asked to work in your cabaret club, sometimes you have to buy them a specific bit of jewelry or accessory before they agree to work for you.
Not gonna spoil anything but plot twists are a mainstay of the series. To the point where Y4 in particular I felt had a few too many of them.
And if you like Ace Attorney, then this series often has substories which are straight up detective work. One of them in Y3 is straight up solving a murder which happened years ago. And it has it's own UI and it's own evidence chain and coming to a conclusion falls entirely on you, you CAN pick the wrong conclusion and "fail" the substory.
Y0 also has a substory where you really have to listen to what the other person is saying and find a hole in what they just said though I'm not gonna ruin which substory that is. (Hint:
It's a Kiryu substory
It's great that more and more people are getting into the series. I just hope they tell more people about how good it is. The series needs help. How something like Nier (in 2 games did 10x the sales) ( and it's a good game but it was niche like Yakuza was) is sad to me that Yakuza got average sales again with zero.
lucebuce12
Member
Charlouie Jonesman
Banned
I'd assume it's got a bit of trouble in Europe. I've got a couple of friends really interrested in the game, but it ultimately falls apart due to the game only having english texts.
I hope they will,if not I will watch playthroughs on youtube.
Also a worldwide demo that didn't require you to use a japanese website. That helped too.
Well, Kiryu is a romanticised version of the Yakuza (similar to how Samurai has been whitewashed as lone warriors protecting the innocents, this example comed full circle when Kiryu himself plays a samurai in spinoff games) who supposedly looked out for the civilians.
There are a couple of interviews on the series with real Yakuza and their views on it. A lot of them lament how 'the old guard' were just like Kiryu, helping the weak...one of them even had an orphanage, except it also doubled as a money laundering front
It's funny how mobsters at all latitudes always say this shit. "It used to be about honor and strict rules but now it's all about the money", as if anyone ever joined an organized crime group for anything else than money and power. Italian mobsters say that all the time. I guess it's their version of "everything used to be better" clichè.
Agreed. I think this is a pretty big factor in Europe. No dub is quite common for less than AAA games, but no translated text is a dealbreaker for lots of people.
lucebuce12
Member
I'm not gonna try to pretend that they don't romanticize the life. But there's one important thing to remember about Kiryu.
It's only in Yakuza 0 that he actively even
In literally every game, the antagonists are also Yakuza. They kill, scheme and rob. A lot of the substories involve Yakuza members trying to extort people, kidnap them, steal from them etc.
It's not like the life of crime is something that they advocate like in GTA.
It's only in Yakuza 0 that he actively even
wanted to be a Yakuza. Yakuza 1 onwards, he is no longer Yakuza and no longer wants to be in that life. It's the whole "I'm loyal to my family" thing that keeps bringing him back. Or something happening to his loved ones.
In literally every game, the antagonists are also Yakuza. They kill, scheme and rob. A lot of the substories involve Yakuza members trying to extort people, kidnap them, steal from them etc.
It's not like the life of crime is something that they advocate like in GTA.
Son Of Sparda
Member
Stop it luce. Nier is an amazing game that totally deserves those sells. After the Drakengard series and og Nier bombing to hell, Yoko Taro also deserves the recognition.
Now, we just have to find a way to insure that Yakuza gets the amount of sells and recognition that it deserves.
Evil Monkey DTT
Banned
I'll grant you the butt became a meme but don't pull this shit. Yakuza 0 was the first game that happened to catch everyone's interest in the same way that a sequel to nier did, it's just the right game at the right time.
eyeball_kid
Member
And you're in the "slow" part of the story. The last third is just a roller coaster ride all the way to the finish.
Related to that, within a few chapters you're going to have so much side content you won't know what to do with it all, and at the same time the main story will be tugging hard at you. I found that focusing too much in either one was the sweet spot. The saving grace here is that there's a NG+ called Premium Adventure that lets you finish all the side content at your leisure. Definitely dip into the minigames and the side missions, but it's easy to get lost in that stuff and have the main narrative tension suffer a bit, so I'd suggest not going whole hog with side stuff until you've finished the main story.
For me, while I was interested in trying Yakuza games last gen, the amount of narrative I'd have to catch up on in order to jump in was kind of off-putting. But having this prequel allowing me to start with no backstory really pushed me over the edge. Also, I gotta say the 80's setting made it a must-buy.
I think also the marketing -- and also the way fans have marketed it to others -- has been off. More_Badass had the same reaction I did; I had no idea it was such a serious crime drama with great writing and characters. The acting and writing blew me away. Sega really needs to sell that more.
More_Badass
Member
So far I've only been doing side mission stuff when it seemed to narratively make sense for the characters to not go to their next objective immediately
And just put up my LTTP
Definitely agree on that last part. All the over-the-top GIFs and clips I had seen of past games definitely skewed my impressions of the series, and why I was never interested in checking it out. It was a weird wacky Japanese GTA. Except it's actually not
Son Of Sparda
Member
To our defense, how do you sell the story and characters in a short gif? We can write a lot about how we good and deep the story in Yakuza games are (many fans have done this before), but the fact is that a lot of people will skim through those kind of posts or completely ignore them due to the length that naturally comes from explaining all that.
So getting the attention of people with wacky and funny gifs is still way better than having the game be completely forgotten. I mean after all, even though you had just seen those gifs, at the end you guys decided to give the game a try, didn't you?