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[eyeball_kid]

Hahaha. I absolutely love the soundtrack in this game.

Yeah, even though it would've been cool to have authentic 1980's Japanese songs, the original songs they created for this game are amazing, from the karaoke ballads to the hair metal boss battle songs. The only songs I didn't really like were the disco tracks.

 

[lucebuce12]

QUUEEEEEENN

OOOHHHHH

QUEEEEEENN OFF THE PASSSIOOONNN

 

[DPB]

Beast style and Heat moves in general really take what is already a pretty great brawling system and makes it feel so much more epic and satisfying. The environment isn't just the walls of an arena or random decoration; it's for you to bash, smash, crack, slam your enemies against and around with it. It gives the combat a scrappy "no rules in a street fight" feel.

On that note, the electrical panel heat action is a must-see.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

Beast Mode is so overpowering.

 

[More_Badass]

Just started Chapter 11

Spoiler

I love how the plotlines are merging. I can't believe I never suspected that Makoto would end up being connected to the Empty Lot.

On that note, the electrical panel heat action is a must-see.

All the knife ones are brutal af. Also Kiryu's wall one where he curbstombs the enemy's face into the wall

 

[texhnolyze]

Man this thread has really made me question what my next big game will be. I played a couple hours of BotW to test emulation and it runs fine and was thinking of starting that after Persona 5, but now I'm thinking Yakuza 0 might be the thing that takes it's place.

Any thoughts guys?

I was on the same boat as you. I decided to play Yakuza 0 first because it seems that it's much shorter than Zelda. I'd need a whole month to finish Zelda while I think I can do it in 2 weeks for Yakuza.

Beast Mode is so overpowering.

Yeah, I think so too. But it's so brutish and far from stylish, not my style.

 

[Skulldead]

Cabaret Club could be its own game

This game is crazy. Is every Yakuza this packed with content and different mechanics?

Yakuza 4 and 5 are the only game that very distinct side content for each character, Like in 5 Kazuma have a crazy taxi type game with a midtown madness like mini game that he have to make no road mistake and drive people to destination. Sajima have a hunting game, where you move to area to hunt with a riffle and put trap, ect for the 2 other playables chapters.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Just started Chapter 11

Spoiler

I love how the plotlines are merging. I can't believe I never suspected that Makoto would end up being connected to the Empty Lot.

It's funny cause me and someone else, (I think it was David up there) actually guessed that connection in the OP before reaching that point in the story and we were like "please don't let this be the connection, we wanna be surprised", hahaha.

 

[loudbill]

There's an item called Trouble Finder that you can use to mark the start of unfinished substories on the map.
Here are the instructions on how to find it for each character.

For Kiryu, you need to complete

Spoiler

"The Tax Lady" substory in chapter 5

, unlocked by just playing through his real estate business.
For Majima, you need to

Spoiler

complete friendship with the Komian's Chef.

Also,

Thanks!! Much appreciated.

 

[big fake]

I was on the same boat as you. I decided to play Yakuza 0 first because it seems that it's much shorter than Zelda. I'd need a whole month to finish Zelda while I think I can do it in 2 weeks for Yakuza.



Yeah, I think so too. But it's so brutish and far from stylish, not my style.

You're in a Yakuza 0 LTTP thread with most posters featuring the Yakuza support avatars .. you know what the answer is going to be

Persona 5 is also a *much* longer time commitment, around 80 to 100 hours on average, so unless you absolutely only need 1 game for the summer, get this.

I'ma already 50 hours into Persona 5 so that ain't the problem. I'm really loving everything I hear about Yakuza 0. I've been a but discouraged and scared BotW will underwhelm me after X number of hours ya know? A recent thread made me warry. I've not heard one bad thing about Yakuza 0 this entire year. I'm in quite of a pickle.

 

[pa22word]

Just unlocked the mad dog shimano style for majima, and now everything just caves down in front of me lol

CC was already an amazing sidegame, the fantastic reward is just the cherry on top of a sweet ass experience!

 

[OniBaka]

Also Kiryu's wall one where he curbstombs the enemy's face into the wall

My favorite one, I always end a fight with it.

 

[jdstorm]

I'ma already 50 hours into Persona 5 so that ain't the problem. I'm really loving everything I hear about Yakuza 0. I've been a but discouraged and scared BotW will underwhelm me after X number of hours ya know? A recent thread made me warry. I've not heard one bad thing about Yakuza 0 this entire year. I'm in quite of a pickle.

Play Yakuza 0 its amazing.

Zelda is getting DLC in December so just tell yourself you will play it after the DLC makes it complete.

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

If we're talking about favorite Heat moves now, my favorite is Kiryu's flying punch move. The square, square, square, triangle one, where he comes flying at the enemy and punches him in the face. So simple, so good. Can't remember if you get it from the upgrade wheel or Baccus' training though.

 

[Capra]

Favorite heat move? Probably the one where Kiryu pins down an enemy by slamming a street sign into them, then jumps on it. It's the moment beforehand of Kiryu holding the sign over his head glaring down like a madman that seals it for me.

 

[lucebuce12]

Favorite heat move?

Tie between this one for Majima and this one for Kiryu.

 

[Jimrpg]

If we're talking about favorite Heat moves now, my favorite is Kiryu's flying punch move. The square, square, square, triangle one, where he comes flying at the enemy and punches him in the face. So simple, so good. Can't remember if you get it from the upgrade wheel or Baccus' training though.

The Kettle for me, it's just really evil and ridiculous at the same time. Haha.

 

[DPB]

Favorite heat move? Probably the one where Kiryu pins down an enemy by slamming a street sign into them, then jumps on it. It's the moment beforehand of Kiryu holding the sign over his head glaring down like a madman that seals it for me.

I mentioned it above, but here it is for anyone who hasn't seen it. The look on the enemy's face as he pleads for mercy is hilarious.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

The Yakuza team execution when it comes to writing has always been something special.

Kenzan is was of my favorite games from last gen. It had no right being as well written as it was when you think about the original pitch being something like "what if Kiryu was Musashi."

But they take that ridiculous but perfect scenario and just run with it.

 

[Shadowman16]

Favourite heat move for me for Kiryu would be either of his wall counter moves, where he blocks/dodges an enemy attack and then proceed to slam them into the wall. So brutal and so satisfying. For Majima it'd be one of his dance moves against multiple enemies. Just so incredibly stylish and hilarious at the same time.

Yakuza 6 wins for most brutal heat move though. The microwave heat move... you'll know what I mean when the game gets released next year!

 

[gbpackers25]

I literally just started Yakuza 0 last night and I'm already liking it. This is my first ever experience with the series and I cannot wait to see what the rest of it will be like

 

[pa22word]

Also I think I feel comfortable saying that Sagawa is probably up there for the most evil sack of human garbage this gen. I mean that in a good way for this game! So often these days you have these villains that the plot spends hours and hours droning on about them and how misunderstood and not quite so bad they are etc etc

Sagawa has this nice, almost uncle like demeanor and I'm pretty sure he straight up quotes Fitzgerald early on in the game regarding Majima and what he went through, and then as the game unfolds you learn that no he's just an evil sack of shit with absolutely zero remorse about anything he does. A pure psychopath in the most pure sense of the word. It's just kind of nice to see a game with the immediacy of having a simple, yet well developed character that is chaotic evil archetype that doesn't just fall into a dull Joker mold.

Also, Kuze...bruh....

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Played about 4-5 hours today. First time grabbing a Yakuza game; all this GAF hype got me hot and bothered.

Loving the story and characters so far. Adore the "realism meets the fantastical" that is somewhat similar to MGS.

But man the first few hours are kind of a slog. The combat is awesome - but it's so few and far between. Does the "pacing" pick up, I hope? Maybe that's the nature of a tutorial that has a LOT to explain.

Also, I was getting my ass handed to me in combat. I'm switching styles; but I died twice in the early

Spoiler

bathroom

fight, and it let me flip to "easy."

I get grabs. I get the combos. I don't think I'm dodging correctly. I use the Fury/fast option, but when 4 guys are around me, hitting X isn't really doing much. I feel like there's a big piece of combat I'm missing.

 

[MCD]

https://youtu.be/SBwpZt5tAdY

 

[Zanzura]

Played about 4-5 hours today. First time grabbing a Yakuza game; all this GAF hype got me hot and bothered.

Loving the story and characters so far. Adore the "realism meets the fantastical" that is somewhat similar to MGS.

But man the first few hours are kind of a slog. The combat is awesome - but it's so few and far between. Does the "pacing" pick up, I hope? Maybe that's the nature of a tutorial that has a LOT to explain.

Also, I was getting my ass handed to me in combat. I'm switching styles; but I died twice in the early

Spoiler

bathroom

fight, and it let me flip to "easy."

I get grabs. I get the combos. I don't think I'm dodging correctly. I use the Fury/fast option, but when 4 guys are around me, hitting X isn't really doing much. I feel like there's a big piece of combat I'm missing.

Early on you don't have a ton of upgrades available so the combat is pretty basic and limited. Your Brawler style has the most heat moves available and the gut punch (SST IIRC) combo is great for keeping enemies down longer or for setting up an easy grab as they're reeling. What you could try is use the Rush style's dodges to keep groups of enemies in front of you or find a target that's somewhat isolated and try to get a full combo off to build heat, then switch to Brawler to use a heat action ASAP to take out or severely weaken an enemy. Until you unlock each character's business options, you won't be getting a ton of money and therefore not a lot of upgrades so I'd focus on the story until then.

 

[jdstorm]

Played about 4-5 hours today. First time grabbing a Yakuza game; all this GAF hype got me hot and bothered.

Loving the story and characters so far. Adore the "realism meets the fantastical" that is somewhat similar to MGS.

But man the first few hours are kind of a slog. The combat is awesome - but it's so few and far between. Does the "pacing" pick up, I hope? Maybe that's the nature of a tutorial that has a LOT to explain.

Also, I was getting my ass handed to me in combat. I'm switching styles; but I died twice in the early

Spoiler

bathroom

fight, and it let me flip to "easy."

I get grabs. I get the combos. I don't think I'm dodging correctly. I use the Fury/fast option, but when 4 guys are around me, hitting X isn't really doing much. I feel like there's a big piece of combat I'm missing.

Use the block button (L1). Stock up on medicine that restores your health before entering any fight. You can also equip gear to increase your defensive stats and use weapons to gain an advantage.

Also are you dodging correctly? Its not just pressing X. You should lock onto the target attacking you with R1 and then make sure you tilt your left stick in the direction you want to dodge.

 

[Gen X]

I mentioned it above, but here it is for anyone who hasn't seen it. The look on the enemy's face as he pleads for mercy is hilarious.

When I see vids like this I realize how crap I am at fighting games.

 

[Wadiwasi]

What chapter you up to?

I believe I just hit chapter 10 or just finished it.

I literally felt every muscle in my face fall when

Spoiler

you see the bat tattoo on Tachibana....there has to be an explanation! Or Majima should go ham on his ass

I'm at the point where Kiryu

Spoiler

should prepare and leave Kamurocho for Shotenboi

 

[jdstorm]

I believe I just hit chapter 10 or just finished it.

I literally felt every muscle in my face fall when

Spoiler

you see the bat tattoo on Tachibana....there has to be an explanation! Or Majima should go ham on his ass

I'm at the point where Kiryu

Spoiler

should prepare and leave Kamurocho for Shotenboi

Lol. Funny thing is i missed that shot the first time around. Lets just say that the game does explain itself quite clearly as to what happened in the past. It happens soon and its a pretty intense ride.

 

[toastyToast]

Yeah, even though it would've been cool to have authentic 1980's Japanese songs, the original songs they created for this game are amazing, from the karaoke ballads to the hair metal boss battle songs. The only songs I didn't really like were the disco tracks.

How is this even possible? Friday Night is the fucking goat

 

[eyeball_kid]

Loving the story and characters so far. Adore the "realism meets the fantastical" that is somewhat similar to MGS.

But man the first few hours are kind of a slog. The combat is awesome - but it's so few and far between. Does the "pacing" pick up, I hope? Maybe that's the nature of a tutorial that has a LOT to explain.

Remember that this is a serious crime drama after all, and it wants to make sure you understand all the chess pieces before the game really get moving. It follows the Jo-ha-kyū style, which basically means "start slow, speed up, end swiftly". Don't worry, things will be moving quickly soon enough.

 

[Jimrpg]

Played about 4-5 hours today. First time grabbing a Yakuza game; all this GAF hype got me hot and bothered.

Loving the story and characters so far. Adore the "realism meets the fantastical" that is somewhat similar to MGS.

But man the first few hours are kind of a slog. The combat is awesome - but it's so few and far between. Does the "pacing" pick up, I hope? Maybe that's the nature of a tutorial that has a LOT to explain.

Also, I was getting my ass handed to me in combat. I'm switching styles; but I died twice in the early

Spoiler

bathroom

fight, and it let me flip to "easy."

I get grabs. I get the combos. I don't think I'm dodging correctly. I use the Fury/fast option, but when 4 guys are around me, hitting X isn't really doing much. I feel like there's a big piece of combat I'm missing.

You can dodge just about everything in this game, so use that. I don't think anyone needs to play on easy in this game because you can stock up on healing potions. It's pretty hard to die.

I played this on hard, and it was that much more difficult than normal in past games.

 

[oneida]

i played thru yakuza 1-4 in preparation for 5 back in 2015. i found 5 to be super disappointing compared to the excellent 4. I'm only on chapter 5 of yakuza 0 because my ps4 is a defective piece of shit and I'm too lazy to send it in, but right now i feel like:

2 > 4 > 0 = 1 > 5 > 3

I'm really liking it a bunch.

 

[Jimrpg]

i played thru yakuza 1-4 in preparation for 5 back in 2015. i found 5 to be super disappointing compared to the excellent 4. I'm only on chapter 5 of yakuza 0 because my ps4 is a defective piece of shit and I'm too lazy to send it in, but right now i feel like:

2 > 4 > 0 = 1 > 5 > 3

I'm really liking it a bunch.

Welcome back.

I can't believe you haven't finished it yet. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, especially if your rankings stay the same as they are.

 

[oneida]

Welcome back.

I can't believe you haven't finished it yet. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, especially if your rankings stay the same as they are.

thanks! i put in about 6 hours over the last two days, playing at my usual relaxed pace, not trying to 100% but enjoying my time in kamurocho.

i want to emphasize that liking 2 and 4 more at this point isn't an insult because i think those games are masterpieces, and i think yakuza 1 is a terrific game that too many people sell short so having it on that level isn't a bad thing either.

 

[Jimrpg]

thanks! i put in about 6 hours over the last two days, playing at my usual relaxed pace, not trying to 100% but enjoying my time in kamurocho.

i want to emphasize that liking 2 and 4 more at this point isn't an insult because i think those games are masterpieces, and i think yakuza 1 is a terrific game that too many people sell short so having it on that level isn't a bad thing either.

4 and 1 were my favourites before I played 0. 0 for me is on another level though.

I'm desperate for a Yakuza 2: Kiwami, because everyone but me thinks its the best in the series so I really want to play it again.

 

[oneida]

4 and 1 were my favourites before I played 0. 0 for me is on another level though.

I'm desperate for a Yakuza 2: Kiwami, because everyone but me thinks its the best in the series so I really want to play it again.

i would prefer a PS2 on PS4 release for yakuza 2 because I'll always prefer the PS2 artstyle. I'm probably alone there but w/e.

the story threads in 0 are so far leagues ahead of 3 and 5.

 

[pa22word]

How is this even possible? Friday Night is the fucking goat

I literally raged to the point of wanting to toss a controller through the window at trying to beat media king at disco >=/

Though I will say kiryu has that style down pat. It takes an ungodly amount of manliness to pull that disco shit off and look good, and kiryu not only looks good doing it he looks like a /fucking boss/ doing it. Mad respect.

 

[danmaku]

Also I think I feel comfortable saying that Sagawa is probably up there for the most evil sack of human garbage this gen. I mean that in a good way for this game! So often these days you have these villains that the plot spends hours and hours droning on about them and how misunderstood and not quite so bad they are etc etc

Sagawa has this nice, almost uncle like demeanor and I'm pretty sure he straight up quotes Fitzgerald early on in the game regarding Majima and what he went through, and then as the game unfolds you learn that no he's just an evil sack of shit with absolutely zero remorse about anything he does. A pure psychopath in the most pure sense of the word. It's just kind of nice to see a game with the immediacy of having a simple, yet well developed character that is chaotic evil archetype that doesn't just fall into a dull Joker mold.

Is he...? I don't think he's depicted worse than any other Yakuza top brass: smart, ruthless and efficient. His job is keeping Majima on a leash and he's damn good at it.

 

[pa22word]

Is he...? I don't think he's depicted worse than any other Yakuza top brass: smart, ruthless and efficient. His job is keeping Majima on a leash and he's damn good at it.

Oh totally.

Spoiler

Even in the end when they grab him and he basically shrugs it off is pure chaotic evil type shit you'd only see in something a comic book nerd would write (or manga nerd?). Sagawa is such a shit stain not even he feels bad about his demise. I

loved his and majima's development around each other. When majima goes full hair cut and shit then kiryu and hI'm stare down I immediately wanted more yakuza tof the point I pulled my ps3 out of the closet to start 4 (thanks dude from my other topic!) Immediately.

 

[lucebuce12]

I disagree. Sagawa's character was arguably one of the more better written characters in the game.

Spoiler

It was obvious as fuck that he is a man who is loyal to his superiors. His position required him to do as Shimano and his superiors asked (often one and the same). The job that he had to babysit Majima until he could be of some use forced him to spend time with Majima and get to know him. In those conversations and in the subtle ways he talked to/about Majima, it was painfully obvious that he respected him. Perhaps if they had met in more favourable circumstances, hell they might even have been friends. But his loyalty lies to his superiors, not his morals. The key difference between him and Majima was that in the lowest moment when you had to take a life of a complete innocent, Majima's loyalty turned out to be to his morals. That was the key difference between him and Sagawa. Sagawa will do anything to get ahead and to keep his bosses happy. Majima will do ALMOST anything to get ahead and to keep his bosses happy. His sense of righteousness is a trait that he shares (almost exclusively) with Kiryu which is the reason why in future games, they're good friends.

It was also obvious in the final conversation

Spoiler

between Majima and Sagawa, that Majima understood Sagawa's position. He realized that Sagawa was doing what practically any good Yakuza would have done in that situation, and he more importantly realized that his actions were going to do nothing but bring Sagawa a lot of pain (though perhaps even he didn't anticipate the swift bullet to the head).

All in all, Sagawa is one of the BEST WRITTEN antagonists I've seen in quite some time, because

Spoiler

he so easily blurs that line between man in a tough position and man doing bad things that you both want to kill him and want to save him at the same time.

It might not be so apparent for someone who's new to the series or someone who's not as familiar with the Yakuza, but loyalty and honor are a BIG DEAL. In most american crime stories, loyalty is a phrase that might as well not exist. Betrayal is the key motivator for like 99% of stories. That's not necessarily the case for Yakuza stories where loyalty isn't just respected, it's EXPECTED. That's also one of the reasons why Yakuza 3's story is to me one of the best in the series because YAKUZA 3 SPOILERS:

Spoiler

Mine partially did what he did out of a sense of loyalty and trust to Daigo, not because he necessarily wanted to usurp him.

 

[pa22word]

I disagree. Sagawa's character was arguably one of the more better written characters in the game.

Spoiler

It was obvious as fuck that he is a man who is loyal to his superiors. His position required him to do as Shimano and his superiors asked (often one and the same). The job that he had to babysit Majima until he could be of some use forced him to spend time with Majima and get to know him. In those conversations and in the subtle ways he talked to/about Majima, it was painfully obvious that he respected him. Perhaps if they had met in more favourable circumstances, hell they might even have been friends. But his loyalty lies to his superiors, not his morals. The key difference between him and Majima was that in the lowest moment when you had to take a life of a complete innocent, Majima's loyalty turned out to be to his morals. That was the key difference between him and Sagawa. Sagawa will do anything to get ahead and to keep his bosses happy. Majima will do ALMOST anything to get ahead and to keep his bosses happy. His sense of righteousness is a trait that he shares (almost exclusively) with Kiryu which is the reason why in future games, they're good friends.

It was also obvious in the final conversation

Spoiler

between Majima and Sagawa, that Majima understood Sagawa's position. He realized that Sagawa was doing what practically any good Yakuza would have done in that situation, and he more importantly realized that his actions were going to do nothing but bring Sagawa a lot of pain (though perhaps even he didn't anticipate the swift bullet to the head).

All in all, Sagawa is one of the BEST WRITTEN antagonists I've seen in quite some time, because

Spoiler

he so easily blurs that line between man in a tough position and man doing bad things that you both want to kill him and want to save him at the same time.

I think it's weird that you seem to think I'm implying sagawa is a "bad" character because he's such a piece of shit?

LIke I totally understood the point of the end convo between the two. It's that which makes me more excited for more majima greatness! Like I said the arc between the two is clear as day and I love the immediacy of it. It was concise and to the point. It succinctly created a zero game for majima's character in a way that even a guy like me coming in with zero experience understood! I couldn't help but watching nishitani's arc unfold and thinking without even having the benefit 9f foresight to see that he was an obvious forbearor for what's to come with majima's path.

Like I told a friend of mine that the game doesn't get amazing until majima shows up, and I fully stand by that now. Sagawa is an amazing character, he's also a total piece of pure steamy shit. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive!

 

[lucebuce12]

Ahh my mistake. For some reason, I thought that you were implying he's such an asshole that he doesn't have any other qualities worth noting lol.

 

[bilas]

First time playing an Yakuza game too. Currently in Chapter 8. I have to say, I really love all side-quests in this game, they are so good...Don't know if the other Yakuzas had better side quests.

 

[lucebuce12]

First time playing an Yakuza game too. Currently in Chapter 8. I have to say, I really love all side-quests in this game, they are so good...Don't know if the other Yakuzas had better side quests.

They are all just as good. Though this particular game had some more sexual-themed quests as compared to the other games.

 

[SScorpio]

4 and 1 were my favourites before I played 0. 0 for me is on another level though.

I'm desperate for a Yakuza 2: Kiwami, because everyone but me thinks its the best in the series so I really want to play it again.

You aren't the only one. I have yet to drive into zero, but I just finished five which I bought at launch a month ago.

I loved the story from 1, and 2 felt weaker, I'm sure going back I'd appreciate it more. I'm now look forward to the wacky parts, and even liked Dead Souls. The shooting gameplay sucked, but the inclusion of pretty much every horror/zombie trope was great.

 

[gbpackers25]

Ok so I just finished chapter 1 and I was wondering if I'm supposed to be doing story missions one after the other, or are there things for me to do around the city right now?

 

[jdstorm]

Ok so I just finished chapter 1 and I was wondering if I'm supposed to be doing story missions one after the other, or are there things for me to do around the city right now?

The game is pretty good about telling you when there is a gap in the narative to go do some sidequesting. Usually its something like "i have nothing to do right now i should go home and wait until X to meet person Y"

You can fight random thugs if you feel under leveled, but otherwise just wait until a natural break.

 

[Markoman]

Just finished the game 3 days ago. I'm really blown away by the direction the game took.
Yeah, it's up there with the MG saga, if you like unconventional/ wacky story telling.
This game has an exeptional approach to writing in terms of "morality" - huge Spoilers!:

Spoiler

Some of the bad guys end up in the grey zone. I was so hoping that the game would let me kill some of those mofos, but what ended up happening was much more interesting and ramps up my excitment for Kiwami as I bet that we'll meet guys like the assassin again. Only thing I didn't get/ felt forced: When Majima finally meets Kiryu randomly (?) in the streets. What's up with that? How does Majima even know it's K.? I guess Majima's reaction is some sort of franchise staple.

 

[chrominance]

Ok so I just finished chapter 1 and I was wondering if I'm supposed to be doing story missions one after the other, or are there things for me to do around the city right now?

Not just yet, the game doesn't really open up until later. I want to say chapter 4 but that might be wrong. I'm not even sure the game gives you full access to Kamurocho by the end of chapter 1. You can safely ignore all the "make sure you complete everything, you won't be back for a while" popups.

Re: favourite heat move: still going to bat for Mysterious Liquid. One of these days I'm going to load Y0 back up just to record a video of Mysterious Liquid, because no one else seems to think that heat move is awesome so I can't even show you a clip someone else has recorded.