Yakuza series

[Thursday]

Love the cutscene at the end of chapter one.

Spoiler alert

But surely those orphans are all in the twenties at this point? Or most of them. It's more like a flatshare comedy at this point.

[close]

Spoiler alert

This is I think two years after Yakuza 6? I think Haruka who's quite a bit older than than the rest was 19/20 in that, so not quite.

[close]

[Thursday]

I can see why people have this is a bit grindy, and why it's a padded out DLC, as it's basically put some main story progression behind what would normally be some entirely optional sidequests. I'm not finding it to be a problem, because it's fun, and if I'm going to have to "grind" I'd rather it be this combat. It does hurt the pacing a bit though.

[Consignia]

I've only done chapter 1 so far, and won't get much further for a while, but I have noticed how many back to back fights there are. The fights are fun, but I do prefer Lost Judgement for fighting, at least at the moment.

[Mister Six]

You get more gadgets and unlock more moves in chapter 2, which mixes things up a bit.

I can see why people have this is a bit grindy, and why it's a padded out DLC, as it's basically put some main story progression behind what would normally be some entirely optional sidequests. I'm not finding it to be a problem, because it's fun, and if I'm going to have to "grind" I'd rather it be this combat. It does hurt the pacing a bit though.

Possibly true, but I always hoover up all the side content when I can so I haven't noticed.

The Agent/Yakuza fighting styles are basically Judgment's Crane/Tiger again, aren't they? Except this time it's Crane getting all the cool shit and Tiger feeling like the unloved stepchild. Especially in Heat Mode, where only Yakuza's charged attacks feel more powerful, while Agent absolutely shreds crowds.

Actually there's something I appreciate - good-sized mobs roaming around. Crane was ace in Lost Judgment, but you rarely got to do anything with it, because there were only a handful of moments where you were fighting 9+ people. Here, though, there are mobs of about nine wandering Sotenbori on the reg.

[letsgobrian]

I'm glad to see the park from Yakuza 5 and 0 return. It makes the continuity of Sotenbori's geography even more nonsensical, but it makes the town a little more lively.

[Mister Six]

For a second I thought you meant Mirei Park, Haruka's manager from 5.

[Timothy]

Not really enjoying this one as much as I expected. Story and the fights are a bit dull and don't like the fact all substories start at the station.

That said, can't wait for the new one in January.

[oggyraiding]

The new RGG logo video before the main menu is very flashy.

[brat-sampson]

Proper tears jerked by the end of this one. Give Kiryu's JP VA more awards please.

[Mister Six]

Been a busy month with a side order of Covid, so I'm still tootling around doing Akame side missions on chapter 3.

Akame's a lot of fun, but the rapturous response to her shows how starved the Yakuza games are for female characters that aren't either simpering victims or (in the post-LAD world) no-nonsense tough girls.

[Mister Six]

Coliseum pro tip: select Majima (if you have the preorder characters) and spam the grapple button (O on Playstation) until you win almost everything. You might need to play from the bronze challenges upward to build up his strength, but he'll lay waste to almost everything. Play as him in the team battles too.

[Mister Six]

Man, that finale was great.

Spoiler alert

Quite relieved now I know the context of Kiryu's tears in the trailer. Lovely to see the other kids get a bit of screen time. If Kiryu doesn't get a happy ending back in Okinawa at the end of IW, I'm gonna FUCKIN RIOT.

I'm assuming Kiryu's three-years of world-travelling adventures between the temple and Hawaii are a handy blank spot to fit in more Gaiden games once the character is properly retired (one way or another) in the mainline continuity.

Wonder if they've got a specific answer in mind for the Hanawa/Taichi Suzuki connection, or if it's going to be ad-libbed down the line. I also wonder if that's going to be explained in IW or saved for some other Gaiden game.

Don't like the closing music being English-language. The opening rap was all right, but I like my Yakuza games Japanese as hell, thank you.

The piano/orchestral rendition of "Amazing Grace" was lovely. A cute reference to Kiryu going to Hawaii?

The bit with the Yumi ring was nice, but presumably the priest is going to find it and put it in the lost and found, which is a bit bathotic. I thought Kiryu was going to bury it or hide it somewhere in the church, but I suppose the imagery wouldn't have been quite as nice.

[close]

[Thursday]

Man, that finale was great.

Spoiler alert

Quite relieved now I know the context of Kiryu's tears in the trailer. Lovely to see the other kids get a bit of screen time. If Kiryu doesn't get a happy ending back in Okinawa at the end of IW, I'm gonna FUCKIN RIOT.

I'm assuming Kiryu's three-years of world-travelling adventures between the temple and Hawaii are a handy blank spot to fit in more Gaiden games once the character is properly retired (one way or another) in the mainline continuity.

Wonder if they've got a specific answer in mind for the Hanawa/Taichi Suzuki connection, or if it's going to be ad-libbed down the line. I also wonder if that's going to be explained in IW or saved for some other Gaiden game.

Don't like the closing music being English-language. The opening rap was all right, but I like my Yakuza games Japanese as hell, thank you.

The piano/orchestral rendition of "Amazing Grace" was lovely. A cute reference to Kiryu going to Hawaii?

The bit with the Yumi ring was nice, but presumably the priest is going to find it and put it in the lost and found, which is a bit bathotic. I thought Kiryu was going to bury it or hide it somewhere in the church, but I suppose the imagery wouldn't have been quite as nice.

[close]

Spoiler alert

There's a theory that Hanawa is Morinaga from Yakuza 5. As they both have the same voice actor, both knew his Suzuki identity, and he only died off-screen. Obviously they look nothing alike but easily explained away by face changing surgery or something. Not quite convinced but I can see it

[close]

[brat-sampson]

Spoiler alert

Obviously they look nothing alike but easily explained away by face changing surgery or something. Not quite convinced but I can see it

[close]

Spoiler alert

I mean, as if that would give RGG even a moment's pause.

[close]

[Mister Six]

Spoiler alert

Sci-fi-level plastic surgery is canon (see the second Yuya in Yakuza 2, or the second Joon-gi Han in Like A Dragon) so it'd fit with the established world.

[close]

Had a quick go on the Infinite Wealth demo, but it gave away a bit too much about the story in the early game (including a bit where Ichiban recaps, with flashbacks, Infinite Wealth stuff that's not in the demo), so I skipped a lot of the cutscenes and just poked around town a bit. If you want to go in fully unspoiled then I'd say skip it.

The demo's split into the Story Demo, which shows Kiryu meeting Ichiban in Hawaii, and the Hawaii Demo, which is a bit more free-roaming but spoils a couple of the new party members.

The combat is much better than LAD - more control over characters, more status ailments and ways to combine them - but still keeps the JRPG core. Did feel a bit like whiplash after battering everyone in realtime though.

The Hawaii Demo has some karaoke, the Crazy Taxi-type delivery game and a few other minigames, but I thought I'd wait for the game proper to indulge in them. I did give the new female karaoke song a go, though, and it's a banger (Ichiban does "Hell Stew" and Kiryu does "Judgment").

Also, the hub bar in this one is run by

Spoiler alert

fucking ANDRE RICHARDSON, so we're now at our third Yakuza 3 character who's been resurrected, which is taking the piss a bit. No explanation of what's going on there, but Kiryu knows him so I'm guessing they're planning some kind of Gaiden game in which they'll explain that. Will they being back Mine? Feels like they've already marred his redemption by having Richardson survive, so fuck it, why not?

[close]

[The Crumb]

I started LAD Gaiden. It's unfortunately becoming harder and harder to ignore the fact that the combat in these games is a bit shit.

[Mister Six]

Eh? Combat in Lost Judgment was great.

Combat in Gaiden is all right, but Agent is a bit gimmicky and useless unless you'd maxed out Spider and Serpent (or went into EX mode, in which case you could just hammer light attack and obliterate crowds in seconds). Hornet and Firefly are wank. And Yakuza is just your standard moveset, but sometimes a bit awkward (enemies do like to step out of range of the EX mode light punch combo). I had fun, but it's no Lost Judgment, that's for sure.

[Spiteface]

I've always liked the combat in the "classic" games (i.e. before the gameplay switch). In fact, I'd always wanted a modern Streets of Rage reboot done like the extended fighty sequences in these games. Like that final stretch where, say, Kiryu has to fight his way from Serena to the Millennium Tower just before facing the final boss. That kind of thing.

Anyway, I've stated the new RPG ones aren't for me. I'm tempted to get Gaiden.

As someone who never finished LAD, just how lost am I going to be story-wise?

All I really know was kinda gleaned from Lost Judgment, where by the end of LAD, both of the big clans had disbanded. How and why, I don't know.

[Thursday]

You'll get the explanation of that in Gaiden. Even more of an explanation than you do in LAD7 if anything.

[Mister Six]

As someone who never finished LAD, just how lost am I going to be story-wise?

All I really know was kinda gleaned from Lost Judgment, where by the end of LAD, both of the big clans had disbanded. How and why, I don't know.

You'll find out about the disbanding in more detail in Gaiden, but there'll be a cutscene that summarises much of LAD and might leave you a bit cold. "THE [NAME OF GROUP] HEADQUARTERS BURN DOWN" - er, who? I don't think they were mentioned in Gaiden up to that point.

[oggyraiding]

I'm not hugely enjoying Gaiden. Combat's fine but I'm finding many of the substories a bit boring. I've been doing a lot of the side stuff, in terms of main story I just

saved Hanawa from Tsurono

but I'm not feeling a huge drive to continue.

Not a bad game by any means, just very meh.