Yakuza/Like a Dragon series

[ChrisIII]

Any fans of these? Played 0 earlier this year and have been making my way through the series.

Kind of feel it's a bit like Metal Gear Solid in presentation at times-long, complicated cutscenes and plots but the tone kind of shifts between being dead serious and incredibly silly.

Also the main gameplay does remind me a lot of the old River City Ransom/Kunio-Kun with the many shops and restaurants and using pretty much *everything* not fixed to the ground as a weapon in the street fights.

Most of the minigames are fun as well.


Find the fixed savepoints in some of the games a little annoying though.

[Tuck]

I absolutely love the Yakuza series. Probably tied for my favorite game series (with Mass Effect). And Majima is probably my favorite all-time game character.

Solid, pulpy crime stories broken up by utter absurdity. It shouldn't work, but does. Some serious gut punches in the series too.

Got distracted in the middle of Ishin. Still have to go back and finish that one. Haven't played the new Kiryu game yet either.

[Kevinroc]

Yeah, it's a great series. Really solid games. The plots are a little basic, but the side stories are usually a pretty great time.

Wait until you get to the Kasuga games, which become turn-based RPGs (although the brawler combat lives on in Yakuza/LaD's sister series, Judgment).

[Tuck]

Yeah, it's a great series. Really solid games. The plots are a little basic, but the side stories are usually a pretty great time.

Wait until you get to the Kasuga games, which become turn-based RPGs (although the brawler combat lives on in Yakuza/LaD's sister series, Judgment).

Looks like it's going to be a mix of combat in Infinite Wealth.

[ChrisIII]

Yeah, it's a great series. Really solid games. The plots are a little basic, but the side stories are usually a pretty great time.

Wait until you get to the Kasuga games, which become turn-based RPGs (although the brawler combat lives on in Yakuza/LaD's sister series, Judgment).

Yeah, the plots so far do seem to be sort of a variation on some Yakuza rivals or government or both wants to control some real estate (Millennium Tower/Empty lot, Okinawan Orphanage, secret Yakuza prison etc) and there's usually a lot of twists and turns about loyalties and relationships etc.

[ChrisIII]

So I played 4 and I'm in the middle of 5.

Anybody else not fond of the Saejima chapters? He's an interesting character but he moves/fights pretty poorly and once again in 5 his first part is largely a boring prison set of fetch quests (which what looks like the same assets used but in Winter) and very long cutscenes/dialogues. Even the people designing it seemed to have realized it so they included some city stuff through the "power of imagination" literally. The Jetski escape scene looked like something out of a PS1 game.

Guess the next bit is a bit of hunting?

[MikeP]

I've played 0, 1 Kiwami and 2 Kiwami. I loved them and will definitely play the rest.

I had 0 sitting in my game queue for a long time, but finally played it after reading all the good reviews. Even then, I was shocked at how much I loved it. Definitely a stand out series.

[ChrisIII]

It's a bit different going into 3, 4 and 5 because the focus begins to shift on more than just Kiryu (although of course 0 had Majima, and Kiwami 2 has the Majima DLC which deals with some loose ends from 0) and also 3-5 were only remastered, not remade from scratch (although I think they still use some of the original audio) like 1 & 2.

They're still pretty good of course, just don't expect the same graphic levels and some of the gameplay isn't quite as good.

[Tuck]

I'm playing Gaiden now (probably won't get to Infinite Wealth for a while).

You'd think I wouldn't get into the pocket racing so much for a third time.

[ChrisIII]

Playing the Haruka chapter for five now.

It almost feels sort of more 'normal' than the rest of the game's tone given that Haruka is a generally more "light" character to begin with so there's less of a tonal shift when the more humorous stuff happens.

[Tuck]

Playing the Haruka chapter for five now.

It almost feels sort of more 'normal' than the rest of the game's tone given that Haruka is a generally more "light" character to begin with so there's less of a tonal shift when the more humorous stuff happens.

The Haruka chapter cracks me up.

Just imagine someone walking in while you're playing.

"What's this?"

"Yakuza."

"What's it about?"

"Japanese gangsters."

"Uh . . . that's a teenage girl dancing and singing pop music . . ."

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I played the early bit of Like a dragon but didn't finish it. Turn based gameplay is an acquired taste for me.

[ChrisIII]

The Haruka chapter cracks me up.

Just imagine someone walking in while you're playing.

"What's this?"

"Yakuza."

"What's it about?"

"Japanese gangsters."

"Uh . . . that's a teenage girl dancing and singing pop music . . ."

Not only that but tons of side missions where she's doing talk shows, taking photos and shaking hands with fans, playing games with rival idols, and running?

[MikeP]

The Haruka chapter cracks me up.

Just imagine someone walking in while you're playing.

"What's this?"

"Yakuza."

"What's it about?"

"Japanese gangsters."

"Uh . . . that's a teenage girl dancing and singing pop music . . ."

THIS IS A SERIOUS GAME ABOUT SERIOUS JAPANESE GANGSTERS!

[ChrisIII]

Going into the Akiyama stuff just as the Haruka stuff took a very dark turn.

As a fan of Cowboy Bebop it's great that he's inspired by Spike (The slight slacker attitude, complicated past, and Bruce Lee inspired fighting style in particular) and voiced by the original Japanese voice actor for Spike.

Too bad they didn't get Steve Blum for the recent English dubs but that's OK.