Yakuza series

[bgmnts]

Have just been ploughing through the main story and haven't been paying much attention but Kiryu slapping Haruka in the face then taking her gambling has been the best part of the game so far.

Kiryu kicking open a door sending a goon flying was so beautiful.

[Mister Six]

Oh, and Hokkaido is one of my favourite Yakuza maps so far. Simple design, but really pretty to gawp at, especially after the bleakness of Nagasugai (that description of it being like an airport at night is perfect) and the concrete grimness of the prison. Wish you could run up the edges of the map and across the roads, though - I get the feeling that's the game just cynically railroading you into fights because the mobs struggle to navigate around the trees and snow piles by the side of the road.

Have just been ploughing through the main story and haven't been paying much attention but Kiryu slapping Haruka in the face then taking her gambling has been the best part of the game so far.

Kiryu kicking open a door sending a goon flying was so beautiful.

Mate, at least do the substories - they're great. I also recommend using CyricZ's GameFAQs guide to slot car racing, as that side story is pretty cute and you get a bunch of Completion Points (no, I won't use the acronym) for doing it.

[bgmnts]

Oh I think I've done most sub stories already. I've got about 23 hours in this game so far. I just dip in and out.

Although I did more than enough slot car racing in 0. Think I may try my hand at the porn wrestling card game instead.

[Pink Gregory]

Can't believe that I actually persevered with Pocket Circuit in 0 after doing loads of it in K1 and getting bored of it.

Beat Majima though and his little snakeskin car though, obviously.

[Mister Six]

I just used that guide I linked to there. Figuring out the best builds was just too much of a chore. I'm in it for the stupid stories anyway.

[Pink Gregory]

I just used that guide I linked to there. Figuring out the best builds was just too much of a chore. I'm in it for the stupid stories anyway.

I think I got how it worked second time round, for some reason in K1 I thought that speeding up/slowing down the playback was slowing and speeding up the cars themselves, and thus I thought there was an element of control and it wasn't entirely about choice of parts?

I *did* however perservere with MesuKing

[Mister Six]

There's a particular character you can pick in MesuKing that wins slightly more than the others, I think. Or maybe that's the Yakuza 0 wrestling. Again CyricZ's guides were invaluable there.

[Mister Six]

A few details and screenshots of Yakuza 8 have emerged on this Japanese website , confirming some returning characters and a new city location. Won't spoil details here, but sad to see Ichiban's mental haircut looks like it's been tamed. :(

[Consignia]

A few details and screenshots of Yakuza 8 have emerged on this Japanese website , confirming some returning characters and a new city location. Won't spoil details here, but sad to see Ichiban's mental haircut looks like it's been tamed. :(

To be fair, look at the context of the scene;

Spoiler alert

Ichi's clearly at rock bottom as his old friends are visiting his squalid living space. I reckon that he'll be back to his colourful self, hair and all, after the first chapter. Once he remembers he's a hero.

[close]

Also, if you've not played 7 yet you might not know that the haircut he is known for is hardly what he actually wanted. Won't spoil the scene; it's a real tone setter for the game.

[bgmnts]

It's been a roller coaster the past 10 minutes.

Spoiler alert

Majima got shot nooooo

[close]

but then Kiryu just punched a fucking statue in half to make a point.

I love these games they're so dumb.

[bgmnts]

Ha plot explanation pure batshit. Has me going "nani!?" every five minutes.

Love this shit.

[Mister Six]

What chapter are you on @bgmnts? I'm still slowly going through Haruka's side story (which I love, a surprisingly enjoyable break from kicking people's teeth in).

[FalknerHinton]

I know they're on game pass at the moment but I bought the remastered collection, Yakuza 6 and Like A Dragon for a shade over £40 in the Xbox sale yesterday, which I'm feeling rather pleased with tbqh.

[Mister Six]

I know they're on game pass at the moment but I bought the remastered collection, Yakuza 6 and Like A Dragon for a shade over £40 in the Xbox sale yesterday, which I'm feeling rather pleased with tbqh.

Ooh, that's a massive bargain, especially with LAD included. Do you have/have you played 0-2?

[bgmnts]

What chapter are you on @bgmnts? I'm still slowly going through Haruka's side story (which I love, a surprisingly enjoyable break from kicking people's teeth in).

Oh I'm at end game now going through Millenium Tower. Just that whole chapter before was so fun.

Although how does the Dragon style work? I assume you have to find Majima around Kamurocho and fight him in the style but I don't trigger him or anything. I've  ever really needed it in a fight ever but would be cool to see what it can do.

[Mister Six]

Oh I'm at end game now going through Millenium Tower. Just that whole chapter before was so fun.

Although how does the Dragon style work? I assume you have to find Majima around Kamurocho and fight him in the style but I don't trigger him or anything. I've  ever really needed it in a fight ever but would be cool to see what it can do.

Oh, I thought you were playing 5, for some reason. Yeah, the plot twists are mad.

I can't remember quite how Dragon style works. Reading this guide, it sounds like you have it from the beginning, but you need to do the Majima encounters to unlock the skills and buffs it provides. You activate it by going to the menu screen and pressing the strong attack button (triangle on PS, Y on Xbox, not sure what it is on PC).

Details on Majima everywhere here. That thing does get a bit grindy, IIRC, especially if you didn't do it much towards the start.

[bgmnts]

Oh cool Haruka is in 5? Banging! I hope every plot is as stupid and crazy as 1. Although I know 4 isn't as mad from memory.

Ahh okay cool for all that, not into anymore grinding for now i'll see  if it's there in 2.

[Mister Six]

Oh cool Haruka is in 5? Banging! I hope every plot is as stupid and crazy as 1. Although I know 4 isn't as mad from memory.

Ahh okay cool for all that, not into anymore grinding for now i'll see  if it's there in 2.

Kiwami 2 has a totally different fighting system with just one style. It's divisive, but personally I loved it. Found it a lot more fluid and engaging. 2 is the only game so far where I've played the Coliseum just for fun, rather than for some ulterior purpose.

Which games have you played? I think 0 is the only one where the plot didn't have substantial amounts of stupid and/or crazy in it. (It's also the plot I like the most so far, pretty much for that reason. I like it when the main plot is pretty sensible - within action movie limitations - and the batshit stuff creeps in at the edges through the side stories and substories.)

[bgmnts]

Kiwami 2 has a totally different fighting system with just one style. It's divisive, but personally I loved it. Found it a lot more fluid and engaging. 2 is the only game so far where I've played the Coliseum just for fun, rather than for some ulterior purpose.

Which games have you played? I think 0 is the only one where the plot didn't have substantial amounts of stupid and/or crazy in it. (It's also the plot I like the most so far, pretty much for that reason.)

I've played 0 and I think I played most of 4 - the one with 4 different characters - but that's it.

[Mister Six]

Okay, I'll keep schtum about spoilers then. I will say, though, that you should play 3 on Easy mode, because the combat sucks. The story and characters are great (with the usual soap opera craziness) but the combat... oy.

[bgmnts]

Ah that's a bummer! Cheers for the forewarning though.

[Pink Gregory]

Okay, I'll keep schtum about spoilers then. I will say, though, that you should play 3 on Easy mode, because the combat sucks. The story and characters are great (with the usual soap opera craziness) but the combat... oy.

Thinking about it, I still have a massive place in my heart for 3, more so than any of the others.  Obvs. I liked K1 enough because it's the introduction to the series, Shimano's a horrible bastard, Majima's there; 2 has Sayama but all the Korean mafia stuff, I don't care *that* much about it, not that arsed about Ryuji in hindsight, 4 has Saejima, Akiyama and Tanimura who are all ace and the motions of the plot are both intriguing and improbable...

3 is where I was most emotionally involved, I think.  The main plot isn't so good (international conspiracies yadda yadda yadda) but Rikiya might be one of the most well fleshed-out supporting cast in the whole series.  Mine is a proper bastard and yet not as one-dimensional as yer usual antagonist, even Michio, a round and bumbling man, gets a great moment of bravery.  I think it's the most I ever cared about Kiryu, anyway. 

But the combat is certainly not very good.  Think I just ended up using Essence of Rolling a lot.

[FalknerHinton]

Ooh, that's a massive bargain, especially with LAD included. Do you have/have you played 0-2?

Yeah its the Hero Edition of LAD too, so not the most fancy version but not the basic one. It was £22 quid. Yakuza 6 for about £3.50 felt like the biggest bargain though.

Yes! Fortunately I already own 0 and the two Kiwamis. I've finished 0 but I'm playing through it again because I realised I missed so much the first time through.

[Mister Six]

Rikiya is the GOAT foil to Kiryu, and it's a shame he never appeared in any subsequent games (which is par for the course with B-level characters in Yakuza, but still).

I think I'd like to replay K1 again at some point, but not for a while. It was the first Yakuza game I played and I spent a lot of it very confused, because it doesn't do a terribly good job of explaining who all these people are and exactly how they relate to one another. 0 does a better job of that, I think, particularly with Shimano and (obviously) Nishki. One of the main reasons I always say play 0 before K1 (the other being that's what the developers want you to do too!).

[Pink Gregory]

Yakuza 1 must have been fairly impenetrable without the extra cutscenes in Kiwami that show how Nishiki becomes who he is while Kiryu's doing bird.

Thinking about it, he's sort of just Kiryu's mate still in 0.  There's the conflict of his loyalty but that's kind of it. 

[Pink Gregory]

So I took a big break between 4 and 5, have they ramped up the encounter rate?  I'm playing on hard (which I assume is just combat difficulty) and I'm only on Kiryu's chapter two and it feels like there's some rapscallion or other spoiling for a rumble on every street, all the time.

[Mister Six]

So I took a big break between 4 and 5, have they ramped up the encounter rate?  I'm playing on hard (which I assume is just combat difficulty) and I'm only on Kiryu's chapter two and it feels like there's some rapscallion or other spoiling for a rumble on every street, all the time.

Yeah, it's famously more aggressive than before. You can walk past enemies if you don't want to engage with them, but I generally just dig in to every fight regardless. Level up a bit and you can plow through a whole mob in no time.

[Pink Gregory]

I'd understand if it was Kamurocho and Kiryu was more obviously a loud-suited Yakuza, but why would everyone be shaking down a taxi driver largely minding his own business?

Not that I mind, I've spent hundreds of hours of my life smashing bikes into people and throwing punks into various rivers. 

and in the game

[Mister Six]

Honestly, I would imagine most criminals would rather shake down a taxi driver than a loud-suited yakuza...

[bgmnts]

Holy shit this game is so different to the first. Jarring.