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March 28, 2024, 10:34:56 PM

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Yakuza series

Started by Bhazor, August 02, 2018, 04:29:47 PM

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Pink Gregory

The prison breakout is *hard* as well, like surprisingly so, probably because you don't really have any heat moves.  Took me a good while to beat that bastard prison guard feller.

Hamazaki was a surprise as well, I was a bit disappointed with how he was kind of fridged in Y3 and you don't even get to fight him, so that was nice.

I don't get people who say they find the plot overcomplicated in Y4; there are quite a few different actors but not many different things happening.  Maybe once you get to Tanimura it's a bit difficult to take any more on but there's, like, one major character and one minor that haven't been introduced already.

Have you done the Saejima substory in Children's Park with the 'Kappa' yet?  Shouldn't miss that.

Mister Six

Quote from: Pink Gregory on March 25, 2022, 07:13:32 PMThe prison breakout is *hard* as well, like surprisingly so, probably because you don't really have any heat moves.  Took me a good while to beat that bastard prison guard feller.

Hamazaki was a surprise as well, I was a bit disappointed with how he was kind of fridged in Y3 and you don't even get to fight him, so that was nice.

The prison breakout followed by a fight against FUCKING KIRYU is the biggest difficulty spike since the mad final boss of Kiwami 1, exacerbated by having just been fighting as the much more fluid and evasive Akiyama at the height of his powers. I'm getting a better grasp of Saejima now, but he's still a tad dull to actually play as, as much as I like his character. I've not really exploited stuff like the rebounds and that yet though. I look forward to getting really good at him just in time to hit a brick wall when I get to the next guy.

Is it worth bothering with the dojo training side game? It's less tedious than the hostess one, but it's obviously going to be a massive timesink. Are the narrative/exp/equipment rewards worth the effort? Will any of this stuff be relevant in Yakuza 5? I'm happy to sack it off if the answers to the above are all "no".

I was fine with Hamazaki being sidelined, although I thought the stabbing at the end of 3 was a needless and underwhelming repeat of the bomb ending of 2. But seeing him get some redemption in 4 really improved that part of 3 - or at least justified it - retrospectively.

Quote from: Pink Gregory on March 25, 2022, 07:13:32 PMHave you done the Saejima substory in Children's Park with the 'Kappa' yet?  Shouldn't miss that.

Erm, I think I glimpsed the word "kappa" when I accidentally tapped through some dialogue too quickly. I don't remember the context though.

Pink Gregory

I certainly didn't finish the dojo and I had no trouble finishing the game.  You probably get some sort of item and I think it means you can use your students as tag partners in the Coliseum?

I tapped out after two students, I think there's five of the buggers and while I quite liked the minigame it felt weird to stall the game to do it at that point.

Pink Gregory

Quote from: Mister Six on March 25, 2022, 10:59:56 PMI was fine with Hamazaki being sidelined, although I thought the stabbing at the end of 3 was a needless and underwhelming repeat of the bomb ending of 2. But seeing him get some redemption in 4 really improved that part of 3 - or at least justified it - retrospectively.

In 3 it feels like a bit of late, rushed character development (Kiryu taking great risks so that people might turn their lives around); which really does complete in 4 so I wonder if Hamazaki returning was the plan all along.


Mister Six

Quote from: Pink Gregory on March 26, 2022, 05:34:34 AMI certainly didn't finish the dojo and I had no trouble finishing the game.  You probably get some sort of item and I think it means you can use your students as tag partners in the Coliseum?

I tapped out after two students, I think there's five of the buggers and while I quite liked the minigame it felt weird to stall the game to do it at that point.

Cheers, I'll finish up the first student and move on, I think. Too much else to do, and I'm intrigued by the story. Maybe I'll do another couple in the final chapter.

Quote from: Pink Gregory on March 26, 2022, 09:59:30 AMIn 3 it feels like a bit of late, rushed character development (Kiryu taking great risks so that people might turn their lives around); which really does complete in 4 so I wonder if Hamazaki returning was the plan all along.

Given the rate at which they knock these games out, it's possible they'd started planning ahead a bit by that point, I suppose. On reflection the stabbing does fit that theme - with Hamazaki violently rejecting the possibility of change or redemption - but I still think it's a bit melodramatic and unnecessary.

Pink Gregory

Would rather have spent more time with Hamazaki rather than a cartoon goon like Kanda - though chasing a tubby naked man around a love hotel is peak Yakuza.

Mister Six

Hamazaki being defeated off-screen as a vague consequence of other events did seem a bit odd given his introduction and prominence early on, to the point that I'd actually forgotten about him and initially thought that he was supposed to be Tamashiro somehow back from the dead until I realised what was going on. Still, I don't know if I'd want him to have a more prominent role, partly because he's a bit "generic sneery yakuza cunt" in 3 (as is Tamashiro, hence the confusion), but mostly because I do think 3 is the lowest point in the series do far (and hopefully the lowest point full stop), and I wouldn't want the game to be any longer than it was. Plus, I liked the fairly stripped back, simple storyline compared with the labyrinthine twists and turns of the earlier games, and Kanda served that well.

Pink Gregory

Yeah he didn't really need any more of a role than he had in 3, and then he does more important stuff in 4.  Perhaps that's the point, you could give a name and a face to thugs in all sorts of factions but it doesn't mean they have to be challenging you directly.

Sort of like how small Shimano's role is in 0.

Mister Six

Right, and I think it's something the series could have stood to do more often - creating interesting/notable supporting villain/antagonist characters so that the Tojo clan doesn't have to spontaneously generate a bunch of random arseholes every two years. Then again, I suppose it's hard to justify spending that money for a game that's not part of the budget...

Consignia

Lost judgement is free on Xbox just this weekend, so I've been giving it a go even though I've not played the first. I don't know if I'll buy it afterward. It does scratch the visceral itch of beating up punks missing from 7. But the gameplay feels way more bitty, loads of different styles that don't mesh very well, such as moving from stealth to parkour to street fighting in a heartbeat. The storyline feels a bit dodge so far too. I don't really think there's any justification for filling a high school with spy cameras, even if you are "investigating bullying". It also feels a bit middle age fantasy to beat up school kids when you were a meek student back in the day.

Pink Gregory

Quote from: Mister Six on March 26, 2022, 04:53:51 PMRight, and I think it's something the series could have stood to do more often - creating interesting/notable supporting villain/antagonist characters so that the Tojo clan doesn't have to spontaneously generate a bunch of random arseholes every two years. Then again, I suppose it's hard to justify spending that money for a game that's not part of the budget...

On the contrary I quite like that new lads emerge so often.  The Tojo are supposed to be this massive organisation, I like that there could just be these colourful nutters emerging from the streets or getting out of prison at any point.  Although that weird chump with the facial piercings that's under Majima is underwhelming to say the least.

It sort of emphasises Kiryu's predicament of always being pulled back into the Yakuza, for me.  Even with a fairly competent and straightforward Chairman like Daigo, it's still in absolute turmoil. 

Mister Six

#461
Quote from: Consignia on March 26, 2022, 04:59:35 PMfilling a high school with spy cameras ... beat up school kids

Wow, this sounds great!

Quote from: Pink Gregory on March 26, 2022, 05:18:04 PMOn the contrary I quite like that new lads emerge so often.  The Tojo are supposed to be this massive organisation, I like that there could just be these colourful nutters emerging from the streets or getting out of prison at any point. 

Yeah, I just wouldn't mind some of these colourful nutters making cameos in the games prior to the ones they're supposed to appear in. It's a small gripe, though, I suppose.

QuoteEven with a fairly competent and straightforward Chairman like Daigo, it's still in absolute turmoil. 

I'm not really a fan of that, either, now I think about it. Has it always been like this, I wonder? Just a constant existential crisis, year and year out? Or only since the ten billion yen went down the shitter?

It's one of the reasons why I like Yakzua 4 so far - there's a threat to the Tojo, but the threat is losing either Majima or the Kamurocho Hills development, not the absolute destruction from within or without of the clan. Although I suppose there's plenty of time for it to escalate to the point where there are armies of Yakzua lads battering one another in the streets, and more army helicopters flying into heavily built-up areas apparently without the authorities giving a shit.

Pink Gregory

To be fair, they don't really do the 'war on the streets' thing again, it would have been a bit much.  You sort of have to assume some turmoil was happening under Sera, and Terada and obvs. fairly explicitly under Lady Dojima; I guess you get a bit more emotional access to Daigo after Y2.

I think you'll be pleased where it goes, I'll not say owt.

Consignia

I somehow managed to wangle an extra couple of hours out of the Lost Judgement free weekend, but it's stopped now. Which is a real shame because in that short period, the game really started to endear itself to me and I want it but I don't want to pay silly buggers price for it that Microsoft insist on their digital store. Hope it'll come to game pass soon as the other Yakuza games drop off.

It's a Yakuza game through and through though. There's just something so silly about it were you can sack off the real plot to play a VR board game or chase down UFOs on a skateboard in downtown Yokohama.

Mister Six

The Judgment games look fantastic to me, and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into them. From what I hear, LJ has some spoilers for Yakzua 7 (aka Like a Dragon), so I definitely won't play that any time soon.

Consignia

Quote from: Mister Six on March 29, 2022, 02:35:28 PMThe Judgment games look fantastic to me, and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into them. From what I hear, LJ has some spoilers for Yakzua 7 (aka Like a Dragon), so I definitely won't play that any time soon.

Yeah I'd heard so bad stuff about them, but really apart from questionable gameplay mechanics/central story (both not unheard of in Yakuza), it's really good fun. I've not seen any Yakuza 7 spoilers yet, but I'm early game so far and it is set very heavily in the same town as 7.

I actually caved and bought it. I just had to do more skateboard detective work. It's discounted thankfully on Microsoft store (although not heavily). Knowing my luck, that's it coming to Game Pass next week.

letsgobrian

Quote from: Consignia on March 30, 2022, 12:18:29 PMYeah I'd heard so bad stuff about them, but really apart from questionable gameplay mechanics/central story (both not unheard of in Yakuza), it's really good fun. I've not seen any Yakuza 7 spoilers yet, but I'm early game so far and it is set very heavily in the same town as 7.

I actually caved and bought it. I just had to do more skateboard detective work. It's discounted thankfully on Microsoft store (although not heavily). Knowing my luck, that's it coming to Game Pass next week.

IIRC most of the Y7 spoilers in Lost Judgment are dialogue where an NPC describes an event from Y7 in a much more realistic manner than it was presented to you via Ichiban's Dragon Quest delusions in Y7.

There's a big reveal in Y7 that happens in a less impressive way in Lost Judgment too, but as it's not explained in either game it's just a matter of how surprised you want to be.

Mister Six

Quote from: letsgobrian on March 30, 2022, 12:44:51 PMIIRC most of the Y7 spoilers in Lost Judgment are dialogue where an NPC describes an event from Y7 in a much more realistic manner than it was presented to you via Ichiban's Dragon Quest delusions in Y7.

There's a big reveal in Y7 that happens in a less impressive way in Lost Judgment too, but as it's not explained in either game it's just a matter of how surprised you want to be.

Should I play Y7 after Judgment, or can I go Y6 - Y7 - Judgment?

I note that they've just put out a biggish (four chapters, although it's hard to gauge what that actually means) DLC for Lost Judgment focusing on the sidekick, Kaito. Given the fuckery Takuya Kimura's management have been inflicting on RGG, I wonder if they're going to make Kaito the star of any Judgment sequels in the future.

letsgobrian

Quote from: Mister Six on March 30, 2022, 01:00:58 PMShould I play Y7 after Judgment, or can I go Y6 - Y7 - Judgment?

I note that they've just put out a biggish (four chapters, although it's hard to gauge what that actually means) DLC for Lost Judgment focusing on the sidekick, Kaito. Given the fuckery Takuya Kimura's management have been inflicting on RGG, I wonder if they're going to make Kaito the star of any Judgment sequels in the future.

There is some continuity that'd be out of order playing Y7 before Judgment. Nothing real in terms of spoilers, just the order of events. But as both deal in flashbacks anyway, you'd be fine.

Mister Six

Hmmm, I already regret playing Kiwami 1 before Yakuza 0, so Judgment first it is!

Consignia

Quote from: letsgobrian on March 30, 2022, 12:44:51 PMIIRC most of the Y7 spoilers in Lost Judgment are dialogue where an NPC describes an event from Y7 in a much more realistic manner than it was presented to you via Ichiban's Dragon Quest delusions in Y7.

There's a big reveal in Y7 that happens in a less impressive way in Lost Judgment too, but as it's not explained in either game it's just a matter of how surprised you want to be.

Yeah, I wasn't really expecting much in the way of crossover, so that's level I'd expect. Things like [spolier]the geomijul base being blocked off whilst exploring the Korean quarter, despite looking like being accessible on the map[/spoiler] are small things I've noticed.

Mister Six

#471
Finished up Saejima, and as much affection as I have for the big galoot, I'm a little bit glad to be rid of him. His character feels like a more melancholic retread of Y1 Kiryu, and his storyline was mostly just biding time until he could meet Majima. What really irked, though, was having the police restricting his movement around Kamurocho in his third and fourth chapters.

That whole businesss felt like a solution in search of a problem, like the devs had decided they were going to include rooftops and underground spaces to make up for only having one city again, then realised that there was basically no reason to ever use them, because Kamurocho is perfectly navigable by foot or taxi. So then they forced the player to use these routes by blocking off critical intersections in the Kamurocho map. Which is obviously no fun at all, and a massive ballache. Shame, because as I say, I do like Saejima.

Things are looking up with Tanimura, though - after a couple of career criminals who are actually loyal and upstanding guys at heart, it's fun to play a weaselly little fucker who doesn't really give a shit about his job and skims money wherever he can (even if it's just a way to explain why he's getting money after fights, like all the other characters). It was a bit of a shame that he turned out to be using some of the cash to fund Tokyo's immigrant community, but his "no fucks given" attitude towards stuff that doesn't personally affect/interest him is fun.

And his combat is great! Parrying attacks and using throws or armlocks is a load of fun, and soon I'll have unlocked the ability to work heat actions into my combo chain, which is exciting. The story is picking up speed, too, to the point that next time I load it I'll have to rummage around in the character files to remind myself of who exactly is betraying who at this moment.

Anyway, yeah, Y4 is a bold experiment by RGG that - as of right now - is really paying off (those bloody beat cops aside).

Pink Gregory

I liked Tanimura a lot, he's the only one that doesn't feel like a parcelled-out bit of Kiryu and his sidequest (the police radio) makes so much more sense than just grinding a minigame.

It's a shame that he, as far as I'm aware, doesn't return for Y5, presumably because of his (second) real world likeness.

Guy combos into heat moves.  What a champ!

Mister Six

I'd actually completely forgotten about Saejima's minigame until now. I think I'll probably just find a YouTube vid and scrub through to the cutscenes once I'm done with the game.

Spiteface

Finally getting the motivation to play Lost Judgement (technically not a Yakuza game, but Yakuza-adjacent enough)...

Do they not have the licence to put Don Quijote stores in the game now? When I'm in Kamurocho now, it's a police station.

I love those places.

Thursday

I thought I'd read something about it closing down.

Consignia

Quote from: Spiteface on April 09, 2022, 08:22:49 AMFinally getting the motivation to play Lost Judgement (technically not a Yakuza game, but Yakuza-adjacent enough)...

Frankly, they are Yakuza games in everything but central story. Everything else, including the gameplay, side missions, general weirdness etc., is all very much a core Yakuza game.

Quote from: Thursday on April 09, 2022, 10:13:19 AMI thought I'd read something about it closing down.

Don Quijote? Not as far as I remember. Last time I was in Japan, which after their removal from the Yakuza universe, they were thriving. It's just a license thing I guess. There appears to be a lot less real brands in the franchise as of late.

Thursday

Ahh okay false memory then, I know obviously some of the Sega Arcades were, but must have read about them losing the license and conflated it.

Mister Six

It's not so much RGG losing the licence (ie. RGG not paying to use the Don Quixote branding) as the stores not wanting to fork out sponsorship, isn't it? All those drinks, restaurants, brands etc are only in the games because they pay to be, surely? I'm wandering about town in 4 right now, overhearing excited chatter about how great a new chat/pachinko phone app is so I can impress hostesses (look, I just want to wrap up those substories, okay?), and it feels like an advertisement break in a YouTube video.

No Don Quixote in Yakzua, though. Makes me feel very sad, even if I haven't had much reason to duck in there since Y2. Or maybe 0/1.

Spiteface

I went into a few while I was out in Japan, I got home just as the UK went into lockdown.

They're pretty much like they are in the Yakuza games, in that everything is so close together you can barely move in any of the aisles, and that song is on a continuous loop.

(Don-don-don, Don Qui, Don Quijote...)