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Yakuza Community Thread - FEEL THE HEAT!

Jimrpg

Member
it's such an insane deal, i can't believe how good the price is.

Game packs almost as many mini games as 0, dancing might be the big one that's music I guess it suits the 80s more.

The story is shorter though, which is nice as I thought the Yakuza 1 script was lean and efficient.

Completionists can still easily spend 100 hours on this thing which is crazy!
 
Kiwami trims the hostesses you can date down to 2. Which I thought was a nice cut as I didn't really care for dating all 5 in any previous game, probably made the hostess section more fun since it seemed like there was less repitition involved. The only real losses in that side of things are the reduction in hostess side stories, but we get several newer, better side stories so that's a plus!

The arcade is less than stellar though, the lack of actual good arcade games really hurts especially after 5 and 0 :(
 

Menthuss

Member
Just started
Shinada's
chapter in 5. This guy left a really bad first impression on me. Please tell me he gets better.
 
Just started
Shinada's
chapter in 5. This guy left a really bad first impression on me. Please tell me he gets better.
I really really liked his chapter in Y5. It had a very unique vibe, the story was excellent and his supporting cast was excellent.

Though gameplay wise he's not too great. Personally I liked him, his goofball charm became more endearing once you get to know his backstory.
 
Shinada's chapter gets better in the 2nd/3rd? part. Basically once they really start delving into the main mystery of the town. It gets a bit strange but really cool. Plus Shinada has the best support character in 5 (Takasugi) who really grew on me the more I played.
 

bluethree

Member
Yeah I really liked Shinada more than expected, even though I don't care much for Nagoya as a setting (not a huge fan of the city irl either ;) ) As much as I'm down on Y5 in some ways, it does have a ton of stuff that's cool on an individual level even if the overall package isn't as good as the other games.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
Shinada is a treasure and deserved his own game instead of a shoehorned chapter in 5. I'd love if 7 was something similar to his chapter, actually.
 

Jimrpg

Member
I really enjoyed Kiryu's, Shinada's chapters and the finale of course.

Saejima's was bad, and Haruka's went too long for me. Though
luckily Akiyama steps in at just the right time
 

xclk07

Member
Does anyone know if there is a way to get the Dragon God Amulet and Mad Dog Gloves in Yakuza 0 (NA release) if one does NOT have the Ishin import save data? Rare Dream Machine drop? Secret weapon search treasure (akin to the Slugger Amulet)? Or am I SOL if I don't have the Ishin import?
 
So, the Pleasure King, eh?

Running through Premium Adventure and just got around to advancing the 5 billionaires storyline by beating the Leasure King.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
Does anyone know if there is a way to get the Dragon God Amulet and Mad Dog Gloves in Yakuza 0 (NA release) if one does NOT have the Ishin import save data? Rare Dream Machine drop? Secret weapon search treasure (akin to the Slugger Amulet)? Or am I SOL if I don't have the Ishin import?

As far as I know, having the save data is the only wayt to get those items. According to some walkthrough website, it doesn't have to be the ishin save data but any other RGG/Yakuza save data will also work.
 

xclk07

Member
As far as I know, having the save data is the only wayt to get those items. According to some walkthrough website, it doesn't have to be the ishin save data but any other RGG/Yakuza save data will also work.

Thanks... yeah... I guess we'll see if the "any data" works when Kiwami releases in NA.
 

Dysun

Member
Just started
Shinada's
chapter in 5. This guy left a really bad first impression on me. Please tell me he gets better.
I just finished his part last night, and it does get better. I had the same feeling initially, but I vastly preferred his part over Saejima and Haruka in the end. Yakuza 5 has been alot of ups and downs for me as I head into the finale portion. When it's clicking it's great, I have high hopes for 0, Kiwami and 6 knowing they are more focused experiences.
 
Leasure King and Electronics King are down. Time for Gambling King...

Not going to lie, going through this storyline is a lot more fun than I anticipated.
 
Leasure King and Electronics King are down. Time for Gambling King...

Not going to lie, going through this storyline is a lot more fun than I anticipated.

That's how Yakuza digs its claws into you. The side content is deceptively fun, before you know it you've spent hours on the game not progressing the main story at all!
 

Vic_Viper

Member
Any good Yakuza movie recomendations? Ive seen both of the Outrage movies but not much else. Plan on watching Ichi the Killer soon, but is there anything else I should look for?
 
is it me or is the comedy and hand shake events really hard. (yakuza 5)

i can't read and respond fast enough and keep getting low scores.

Hand Shake events I found really easy (mind numbingly so after doing them 50 times!) but the comedy routine has very precise timing, as Haruka's responses need to be perfectly timed to the other guys delivery of the jokes. That one just takes a lot of time and effort, even with a guide!
 
It's not just you, the timing on that thing was incredibly tight.
i just got an 82 for the first round of comedy. took many tries.

Hand Shake events I found really easy (mind numbingly so after doing them 50 times!) but the comedy routine has very precise timing, as Haruka's responses need to be perfectly timed to the other guys delivery of the jokes. That one just takes a lot of time and effort, even with a guide!
i guess i need to do at least 50 hand shake events. i just can't react quick enough when they ask or comment creepy.
 

Gacha-pin

Member
i just got an 82 for the first round of comedy. took many tries.


i guess i need to do at least 50 hand shake events. i just can't react quick enough when they ask or comment creepy.

I see the comedy sub quests could be difficult if you are not familiar with the language but the handshake mini game is very easy. Just choose the same color and use "smile" for fans in pink.
 

Skulldead

Member
is it me or is the comedy and hand shake events really hard. (yakuza 5)

i can't read and respond fast enough and keep getting low scores.

That side quest was a pain to finish, took me like 10 tries with the answer guide.

I've just beat part 3... i really like the way the storyline is taking : (story spoiler here)

Majima is not dead !!! And he is the ex husband of park, this series really pay off when you play all the game, make these little impact so powerful other then a standalone game
 
Try focusing on their commemt's color only and answer with the matching one. You don't actually need to read what they say.

I see the comedy sub quests could be difficult if you are not familiar with the language but the handshake mini game is very easy. Just choose the same color and use "smile" for fans in pink.

That side quest was a pain to finish, took me like 10 tries with the answer guide.

I've just beat part 3... i really like the way the storyline is taking : (story spoiler here)

Majima is not dead !!! And he is the ex husband of park, this series really pay off when you play all the game, make these little impact so powerful other then a standalone game
thanks guys, i never thought to color match for the handshake. should be much easier now. for the comedy bit, i'm trying to memorize the length of the guys dialogue and time the response but sometimes i cut him off too quick.
 

Skulldead

Member
thanks guys, i never thought to color match for the handshake. should be much easier now. for the comedy bit, i'm trying to memorize the length of the guys dialogue and time the response but sometimes i cut him off too quick.

Yeah as a non Japaneses speaker you have to memories the timing length of each sentence. This is one of the most annoying mini game to play without English dub, the translation seem rush a little overall, so nothing surprise me they didn't add a indicator or something to help overseas..
 

Menthuss

Member
Well, I finally finished 5. Around the time Shinada's chapter came up, I was pretty much done with the game and just rushed through the story (Shinada himself did become better as his chapter went on thankfully).
I'd say this was probably the worst Yakuza game. I originally had Yakuza 1 as the worst and while it still kind of is, I put 5 below it because Yakuza 1 was the first entry in the franchise and a lot less polished than its sequels.

Gameplay-wise, the game, like previous Yakuza entries, improves upon its predecessor. Characters move more fluently and have more freedom during combat. The increase in the number of combatants on screen was also nice (even if it occasionally made some fights a bit messy).

The story was a mess. I originally had a whole paragraph typed out here about how all sorts of things either didn't make sense or needed to be fleshed out much more. Then I realised I don't really care about 5's story anyway.
I will say this though: A lot of the bossfights had no impact because of how awkwardly they were set up. It honestly felt like they had to twist the narrative in really weird ways just so they could put in a fight at certain spots in the game (Shinada vs Daigo, Kiryu vs Watase vs Katsuya vs Saejima, Shinada vs Baba).
Also, there were way too many characters IMO, both playable and non-playable. It's difficult to give characters enough screen-time to make you care about them when you have so many others characters coming and going.

I'll be taking a short before I start 0. Probably won't be a very long one though, considering the good things I've heard about it :p
 

bluethree

Member
I played 0 a few months after 5 and I loved it. It's the complete opposite in pretty much every way. One of the best games in the series.
 
Yeah, Yakuza 5's story was a mess. I disliked it for the reasons you mentioned too, and I do think it's the worst game in the series. Yakuza 0 fortunately is much better, easily one of the best in the series.

I watched YakuzaFAN's making of documentary on the series recently and now I am not that surprised that the scripts are somewhat shoddy in all Yakuza games. The main writer develops characters first, then plots relationships and then goes to develop a story. Now, apparently until the end of the game (he writes scripts sequentially), he doesn't decide who the main villain is. Which, in itself I think is fine. Each character having some character aspects or motivations that may eventually be in conflict with MC is fine, but especially in 5 I could feel that he just pulled Kiryu's antagonist out of the fucking ass. Plus the main writer apparently hasn't read almost any books. I love the melodrama as much as any other guy, but I do think the series suffers from overwriting. It's great in the sidestories because the stories and lines there are stellar, but the main plots suffer.
 
Yeah, Yakuza 5's story was a mess. I disliked it for the reasons you mentioned too, and I do think it's the worst game in the series. Yakuza 0 fortunately is much better, easily one of the best in the series.

I watched YakuzaFAN's making of documentary on the series recently and now I am not that surprised that the scripts are somewhat shoddy in all Yakuza games. The main writer develops characters first, then plots relationships and then goes to develop a story. Now, apparently until the end of the game (he writes scripts sequentially), he doesn't decide who the main villain is. Which, in itself I think is fine. Each character having some character aspects or motivations that may eventually be in conflict with MC is fine, but especially in 5 I could feel that he just pulled Kiryu's antagonist out of the fucking ass. Plus the main writer apparently hasn't read almost any books. I love the melodrama as much as any other guy, but I do think the series suffers from overwriting. It's great in the sidestories because the stories and lines there are stellar, but the main plots suffer.

Well that sure explains things about one or two of the recent Yakuza games. Also explains why I love the characters in the game even if the stories aren't so great in a couple of them (5 and 6). I loved 5 though, purely from a story point its probably one of the weakest, but from a pure gameplay point of view (with some of the encounters and bosses you fight) its bloody brilliant, ditto the amount of things you can do in the series. That said, 0 kinda took those points and improved things further.
 

Jimrpg

Member
Well that sure explains things about one or two of the recent Yakuza games. Also explains why I love the characters in the game even if the stories aren't so great in a couple of them (5 and 6). I loved 5 though, purely from a story point its probably one of the weakest, but from a pure gameplay point of view (with some of the encounters and bosses you fight) its bloody brilliant, ditto the amount of things you can do in the series. That said, 0 kinda took those points and improved things further.

Yeah I think expectations going into 5 was that 4 was a really good story, so 5 would be the same. But there's a great game inside 5 (taxi missions, baseball, ramen mini game, dancing mini game, hunting mini game) that probably gets glossed over.
 
Eh, I remember 4 just being awesome with four protagonists and some awesome end bosses (and the main theme just rocks!) but I remember almost nothing from the story so I can't really comment if 4's story was all that amazing. I remember certain points were great, but I've been meaning to replay it just to refresh my memory on the story. Though I won't get to it anytime soon, once I finish of Zelda this month I'll be starting Yakuza 0 finally!
 

Logash

Member
Didn't buy Yakuza 0 digital. Anyone know if that was available for preorder? Been waiting for Kiwami to go up. Hoping there is a predownload so I can play it midnight.
 
Beat the Real Estate substory in Y0. Good stuff. Now to use my buttload of cash to buy my abilities!

Also, game told me how to use Dragon of the Dojima but I couldn't read what was said. How do I use it?
 
Beat the Real Estate substory in Y0. Good stuff. Now to use my buttload of cash to buy my abilities!

Also, game told me how to use Dragon of the Dojima but I couldn't read what was said. How do I use it?
You have to pause the game and press a button to activate/deactivate the legend stance. Forgot the button but it should be straightforward.
 
So unbelievably pumped to start Yakuza 0.

Just spent the past year+ catching up on the first 5 games. Finished 5 a few days ago, now I finally get to play a Yakuza game near release.
 

LAM09

Member
I know we're a probably a while away from the next Yakuza title, but does anyone think a simultaneous/small gap (few weeks) WW release is a realistic possibility?
 

Jimrpg

Member
I know we're a probably a while away from the next Yakuza title, but does anyone think a simultaneous/small gap (few weeks) WW release is a realistic possibility?

It probably depends on numbers for Kiwami and 6. Zero's numbers were decent but not a breakout hit given the few sources we have on this (ZhugeEx tweet). But things could improve for Kiwami depending on if word of mouth gets around (and the lower price).

Koei Tecmo did a WW release on a pretty big game with Nioh, but that had a long development time 3-4 years vs Yakuza titles which seem to take 1-2 years. KT also spend a lot of time polishing up gameplay which might also give them time to work on the localization.

The other game to consider is of course Persona 5 where the English version came out 6 months after the Japanese game was done, but as fans have noted it wasn't the best localization possible most likely because they used more staff than normal which probably reduced the consistency somewhat.

At best I think Yakuza games will get down to about 6 months but I don't think it will be a simultaneous release unless they specifically held off the Japanese version, not that we'll know though. Would love it if that happened.
 
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