General RGG Discussion

ys. said:
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
Favourite is 3, always will be.

5 is the best in the series and nothing has dethroned it yet!
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That's an opinion you don't see often. I also liked Yakuza 3 but many seem to dislike it. I actually thought that parts of the game felt more like Shenmue than most of the other games. Specifically the slower pacing when you're at the orphanage. Yakuza 5 is also great, I replayed it not too long ago.
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I always find it funny when Truck says that, as I personally find 5 to be the absolute worst in the series. Story doesn't make a lick of sense and ultimately just doesn't matter, the Haruka/Akiyama sections are an absolute slog to get through, and the technical quality of the whole thing, from the graphics to the gameplay, feels really shoddy and poorly-programmed (the only game in the series where I got stuck in a room twice with no way out; a door was supposed to open, but wouldn't).
Individually, Kazuma, Saejima, and Shinada's sections all offer something unique and fun to mess around with (particularly Shinada's, who I think might actually be my favorite character in the series), but as a whole it's really just a big, dumb, self-indulgent mess.

And I think the development team realized that afterward; it's probably why they streamlined things, scaled it back, and gave us the brilliant Yakuza 0 as the next game. Until that point, they seemed to think that making everything bigger was the way to go (and 5 is definitely the biggest in the series, that's for sure), but I think it taught them that bigger isn't necessarily better.
 
Yakuza 5 is the only mainline entry that I haven’t beaten. I was in the middle of Haruka’s chapter when I stopped back in 2015, and I haven’t picked it up since.

I haven’t beaten the US release of Kiwami (PS4) yet, but I beat the Japanese release back when that came out. Even though it’s essentially the same as Yakuza 0, I just don’t like it as much. Probably because I was never a huge fan of the first game. Can’t wait for Kiwami 2 though.
 
i really liked Yakuza 5 and especially the whole Haruka part. i'm not a huge let's dance or J or K Pop fan
but i dont know ... i have a lot of respect for the developers
because they made a serious idol story without any fighting in a violent Yakuza game. thats nothing you will find easily in other games.

and it worked for me. when the other two girls were mean to Haruka, i felt really bad. i liked the idol events, it was something different,
it felt like Haruka is really trying. and of course the two or three songs are a bit boring ...
but at the same time it makes sense that there arent more tracks because those are Harukas
current demo or tour tracks of that agency, so of course she has to perform them
like three times a day. thats happening in real life all the time.

i'm totally fine with the Haruka part, it was never a problem for me.
 
Have I mentioned how brilliant the beginning of Yakuza 0 is? This is just what they needed to draw in new players, the pacing is basically perfect, the world and side stories open up rather quickly and you basically jump right into the game from the start, like like like.
 
ys. said:
@Mr. OL As well as absurd, funny things without it ruining the serious main story. I always liked that about the Yakuza series. Metal Gear Solid is another example that manages this I think. Japanese games do this maybe a bit more often in general.
By the way, I wondered yesterday if you would show up here or if I had maybe missed it.


I like both series but have always found them to be quite different when you start looking beyond the setting. There are similarities but Shenmue focuses a bit more on creating the feeling of daily life, time passing, NPC's that can be approached so they're not just there as background elements, ... Yakuza on the other hand has more action, a bit more traditional leveling up while keeping some of these life elements.

That's an opinion you don't see often. I also liked Yakuza 3 but many seem to dislike it. I actually thought that parts of the game felt more like Shenmue than most of the other games. Specifically the slower pacing when you're at the orphanage. Yakuza 5 is also great, I replayed it not too long ago.
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Indeed. Amongst the prominent Yakuza fans around the world (of which I consider myself to be lol), I am one of the few black sheep that supremely dislikes 2 and loves 3 & 5.

What I have always looked for in the series, is the evolution of the gameplay, along with a good story; the graphics and soundtrack are always tops and the replay is absurd, so the only things that really change from title to title, are gameplay and story.

5 had the best jump in evolution of any game, IMO and with the differing gameplay types and fighting styles, along with the massive locations and plenty of things to do without being super repetitive (I'm looking at you, Hokuto ga Gotoku), plus an awesome plot that ties together beautifully (personally don't care who is the final boss; everything is handled brilliantly, good final boss or bad final boss), nothing has dethroned it yet.

0 came close, but it also has a few issues with the writing, albeit superb characterization, while the jump in gameplay is not as much an evolution, as it is a fine-tuning.

6 was the best jump yet in terms of gameplay (so fresh and new) with a fantastic story as well, but hardcore fans like myself haven't embraced it, mainly because they played it before updates and/or patches were applied.
 
Mr. OL said:
I always find it funny when Truck says that, as I personally find 5 to be the absolute worst in the series. Story doesn't make a lick of sense and ultimately just doesn't matter, the Haruka/Akiyama sections are an absolute slog to get through, and the technical quality of the whole thing, from the graphics to the gameplay, feels really shoddy and poorly-programmed (the only game in the series where I got stuck in a room twice with no way out; a door was supposed to open, but wouldn't).
Individually, Kazuma, Saejima, and Shinada's sections all offer something unique and fun to mess around with (particularly Shinada's, who I think might actually be my favorite character in the series), but as a whole it's really just a big, dumb, self-indulgent mess.

And I think the development team realized that afterward; it's probably why they streamlined things, scaled it back, and gave us the brilliant Yakuza 0 as the next game. Until that point, they seemed to think that making everything bigger was the way to go (and 5 is definitely the biggest in the series, that's for sure), but I think it taught them that bigger isn't necessarily better.
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As said, I'm a black sheep lol.

But I'm more than willing to accept others opinions, as everything is open to interpretation and its good to discuss :).

Except for 2 and 4: those games are written terribly (from an objective standpoint, more 2 than 4) and the punting of Hase after 2 still burns in my mind that what he tried to do with the series was not well-received.

Tosh said:
i really liked Yakuza 5 and especially the whole Haruka part. i'm not a huge let's dance or J or K Pop fan
but i dont know ... i have a lot of respect for the developers
because they made a serious idol story without any fighting in a violent Yakuza game. thats nothing you will find easily in other games.

and it worked for me. when the other two girls were mean to Haruka, i felt really bad. i liked the idol events, it was something different,
it felt like Haruka is really trying. and of course the two or three songs are a bit boring ...
but at the same time it makes sense that there arent more tracks because those are Harukas
current demo or tour tracks of that agency, so of course she has to perform them
like three times a day. thats happening in real life all the time.

i'm totally fine with the Haruka part, it was never a problem for me.
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Loneliness Loop isn't that bad and Konnan is friggin' awesome; I'm not a huge fan of it, but as a J-Pop idol song, it is PERFECT.

But yes, I was more than receptive to the idol parts, as it was an evolution/different direction that the series went in and it worked!

24Nathan said:
I actually really liked the Haruka part. I didn't think I was going to enjoy the rhythm stuff that much, and her story is nice.
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Agreed, on all points. Paku Mirei is a great character; they did a good job with her.
 
Yakuza 3 holds a special place in my heart because it was THE reason that pushed me to finally buy a PS3 back then. I remember seeing the release trailer, before any announcement for the west was made. I was BLOWN AWAY. Even now, I don't have any problems with the story (even all the orphan stuff). I just remember feeling that it was huge leap over the PS2 games.

I hope to finish Yakuza 5 someday. To be honest, I don't really like the switching between multiple characters in the main story that started with Yakuza 4. I don't necessarily have anything against any of the playable characters outside of Kiryu, but I think I would've preferred something along the lines of character-switching in Resident Evil 2 or the Onimusha games (playing only relatively small portions of the game as a sub-character).

I think this is one of the reasons why I dig Yakuza 0 so much, since it captured the pacing and story balance between its two characters perfectly. Had Yakuza 5 focused on a single character like Kiryu and then have us play as a sub-character like Haruka or Akiyama for portions of it, then I think it probably would've at the very least held my interest long enough to finish it.
 
Luckily I liked all the Yakuza 4 characters, so I loved it. Very close second to Yakuza 2 in my overall favorites. Although, i could tell if they followed the same idea for 5, I'd likely get a bit tired of it--which I did--I still love the game. Stuck at the J-POP part, which usually I don't like nor am very good at rythm games, but I actually really like her part. Getting distracted with life and Shenmue and not playing again for a year+ is coincidental.
 
It’s interesting to note that the voice actresses of Haruka and her manager also voiced Ed and Al in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Akiyama is also voiced by the guy who plays Spike in Cowboy Bebop
 
Tosh said:
i think Yakuza 6 will probably look the best on PC because there is no anti aliasing at all on the PS4
and everything looks really really really unclean and unsteady.
also its the only game (besides Kiwami 2) that isnt running in 60 fps on the PS4 (Pro).
its even worse on the normal PS4 because you get screen tearing + sub 30 fps.
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I'm so glad I never notice any of this stuff. It must be hell.
 
Interesting. I've never noticed that. I like the look of the Dragon Engine, specifically the environments.
 
I love the story line of Yakuza 0.
I hate the fact you have to fight goons every minute when you roam the streets. The fighting in this game is boring.
 
Any advice on the Mahjong games? I somewhat have a understanding what needs to be done but even in beginner I am awful.
 
The highlight of the Yakuza series for me was this one time after getting off work I started playing Yakuza on my living room, then my gf walks on to me right when one of these scenes plays on:


My gf back then walked off without saying anything, but I could have read in her face something along the lines "So PC porn is not even enough for you...".
Thank you Japan.
 
but you have an excuse, you are just role playing as Kazuma Kiryu or Goro Majima
and its not your fault that they are so thirsty :innocent:
 
I bought the PS4 port of Yakuza 3 last week. Finally beat Hokuto ga Gotoku. The guys who voice Majima and Gouda play Jagi and Raoh. It just sounds weird without them talking in Osaka dialect.

I heard rumors of another Yakuza prequel in the works but I’d want one about Kazama of being an OG Yakuza in the 60s or 70s and how it leads him to killing Kiryuu’s parents
 
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