l911 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) -wear Ryu ga Gotoku Wiki | |Official Site | JAP Yakuza 5 site I am surprised that I could not find a topic about Yakuza. Yakuza is often referred to as Japan GTA, yes i know its totally different game, but is it soo different ? I mean Yakuza is not a sandbox it is a Beat 'em up rpg game, comparing those games gameplay wise is impossible . But like GTA, core of game is story strange characters and showing the world in a grotesque way. Sad that this series is marked as "strange, too Japanese for western gamer" its all bullsh*t. I dont wach anime, read manga im not a fan of Jappan culture but i enjoy yakuza games. Because they are just good. Recently in Japan Yakuza 5 was released and gathered great reviews. So far there are no plans for Western release Is someone else here who likes these games? Do you wait for 5 translation ? Edited January 2, 2013 by ludi911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radoonhagaydoon Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Sales are in decline, it's sad. (outside of Japan I MEAN) I love this series, but I also like other japanese stuff tho but liking Yakuza has nothing to do with that. You can import it but it's very expensive and i can't afford 120 dollar games. I wish it could be relesed overseas because I love the series even more than another Japanese game series I like (Warriors series) - I'd rather have Yakuza 5 instead of Dynasty Warriors 8 tbh. @Translation: If it's released overseas, it won't be translated, just subbed probably. 'Cause Yakuza is the only series that can be only subbed and not dubbed to have in retail cause SEGA probably pays big bucks to have it retailed + cause it's playstation exclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Sales are in decline, it's sad. (outside of Japan I MEAN) I love this series, but I also like other japanese stuff tho but liking Yakuza has nothing to do with that. You can import it but it's very expensive and i can't afford 120 dollar games. I wish it could be relesed overseas because I love the series even more than another Japanese game series I like (Warriors series) - I'd rather have Yakuza 5 instead of Dynasty Warriors 8 tbh. @Translation: If it's released overseas, it won't be translated, just subbed probably. 'Cause Yakuza is the only series that can be only subbed and not dubbed to have in retail cause SEGA probably pays big bucks to have it retailed + cause it's playstation exclusive. So far i only played Yakuza 4 (my first contact with the series) and now I play Yakuza 1 on PS2. In Y4 I like that they are the original voices with only subtitles and it was hard to get used to the voice overs in first one, but I think they are well done . Again, maybe it's because im not soo much into Japanese culture. Only subtitles are not problem for me , i just cant decide what is better . It is certain that Sega will not do voice over (as you said $) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
na89340qv0n34b09q340 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I played Yakuza 4 after picking it up on impulse, and really liked it. There's not too much to do after you've beaten the game though which is what broke the game for me (although there were some things, and I'm sure I could have found more if i looked hard enough). They released Dead Souls in the US with no original plans for oversea release, and I think that if we hope really hard our hope will bring it to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radoonhagaydoon Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I didn't even bother finishing Dead Souls yet. Not as fun as the main Yakuza games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) I'll add that Yakuza 4 is the second most awesome looking PS3 box art ever. Thats why i I bought this game First is Resistance 3 too bad in this case, only the box is interesting Edited January 2, 2013 by ludi911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullworthAcademy Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I played the demo for Yakuza 4 and it was VERY good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryda King Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 All of the Yakuza games are fantastic. I've yet to see Yakuza 5 in action since it's Japan only for now. Sad that it's not that popular in the US. Also, I played the first one first. Voice overs were terrible. I prefer the Japanese voices with the subtitles. Movies or games about people from different countries speaking English is retarded. Like I just re-watched that Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie. The damn movie takes place in Nazi Germany, yet everyone not only speaks English (Inculding Hitler?!) but even has BRITISH accents?! Stupid. Anyway side issue. The whole game series has awesome characters and deep storylines that suck the player in. I hope Yakuza 5 eventually comes to the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyEatingCheese Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Okay so I have never played this series. Should I get Yakuza 3 or 4 first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyGanteks Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Only played the very first Yakuza on the PS2, good times though, it was a great game,a sad sort of ending though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryda King Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Okay so I have never played this series. Should I get Yakuza 3 or 4 first? They're not really connected to each other other than some minor tidbits. 4 is the much better game anyway, in my opinion. So go with that one. However I recommend getting the first two games. If you can't, look up a walkthrough or the cutscenes/story on YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I played the first one on PS2 back in the day. Loved it. It took me some time to get used to the camera when free roaming. But I love Japanese games. There's just something different about them that hooks you. Gameplay was amazing, IMO. And the story was quite good too. Very cinematic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyEatingCheese Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Okay so I have never played this series. Should I get Yakuza 3 or 4 first? They're not really connected to each other other than some minor tidbits. 4 is the much better game anyway, in my opinion. So go with that one. However I recommend getting the first two games. If you can't, look up a walkthrough or the cutscenes/story on YouTube. Thanks. I think I am gonna get both though. 'Cuz they are really cheap. Also another question, I saw that there was stuff taken out of the US version. Is it still unavailable in the English version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) yes but only Yakuza 3 had big cuts (western release has only 85% of game content) 4 is almost like Jappan version only some kind of historical quiz was cut. Edited January 2, 2013 by ludi911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkpile Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Okay so I have never played this series. Should I get Yakuza 3 or 4 first? I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't played a Yakuza game, but wants to, to start with the very first title. It introduces the main cast, Kazuma Kiryu, Haruka, Date, Kage, Kazuki & Yuya as well as important characters to the story that developes further throughout the whole Yakuza series, Nishiki, Fuma, Dojima family, Goro Majima, the bum in the end of Y1 who's supposed to be Akiyama from Y4, etc. There are even many people from the first game who turn out to be substory characters in the following games. Sure you can ignore them and you can also pick a title like Y3 or Y4, since every Yakuza sequel features a summary of the previous titles, albeit these summaries don't cover everything. I kind of found it hard to follow the events of Yakuza 2 by watching the summary (the Kazuki incident f.e.). However, a more important reason to start with Yakuza 1 is the setting,...Yakuza 1 is much darker than the following titles. You don't have much, if any, comic relief like in following titles. Its kind of dated design, the blurriness underlines the film noir atmosphere of the first title. I have played all 4 (canon) titles so far, and I skipped the 2nd game in the chronology. My order was Y1, Y3, Y2, Y4. Yakuza 3 is a very nice sequel. A whole different setting in the beginning. Yakuza 4 is alright, slightly better graphics, but the main story for Kazuma is kind of weak. Tanimura and Saejima both have good stories, also going more into detail with the substories, but SEGA put too much into that game, sometimes it's hard to follow. Now is he a bad guy, no, wait, ...? There are many new faces introduced and at times, it's confusing. In Y4 the character ARAI should probably be someone like Leonardo DiCaprio or Matt Damon in "Departed", a troubled undercover police officer who lost his way. But they potray him to be the main enemy, then again, he's good. Y4 is really disturbing at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) Yakuza 4 is alright, slightly better graphics, but the main story for Kazuma is kind of weak. Mr.Akiyama steals the show. I love this guy. Edited January 3, 2013 by ludi911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkpile Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Mr.Akiyama steals the show. I love this guy. Sort of, yes. Looks like Sega wants him to be a permanent protagonist to the series. He appeared in that zombie spin-off and re-appears in Yakuza 5. If the Yakuza franchise keep on going, I could see him taking the main position and Kazuma being someone like Makoto Date to the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 And what do you people think about cut screens in Yakuza ? I think they are starting to be too long (its not big problem for me because i like the story) but Yakuza 1 (i play it now) dont have soo long cuts (like Y4) and still delivers a nice story I hope that Yakuza 5 does not beat MGS4 in this regard. What do you think ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CryptReaperDorian Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Despite what the reviewers think of it (giving the games mediocre scores), I'd say that the Yakuza formula is pretty solid. However, it's kind of repetitive at times, and that can hurt the longevity of the games. It would help if you could avoid the random street fights that you have to do practically every three minutes. Otherwise, fights against key or supporting players can be intense, and the stories are usually pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkpile Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 And what do you people think about cut screens in Yakuza ?I think they are starting to be too long (its not big problem for me because i like the story) but Yakuza 1 (i play it now) dont have soo long cuts (like Y4) and still delivers a nice story I hope that Yakuza 5 does not beat MGS4 in this regard. What do you think ? Same for me, I enjoy most parts of the story. Love the cutscenes. Despite the comic relief of certain situations in this typical japanese manner, the Yakuza games are somewhat serious. Sure the action is exaggerated and sometimes people just have to be dead, but then remain alive. SEGA managed to deliver a game with a degree of realism, yet full of arcade action. Despite what the reviewers think of it (giving the games mediocre scores) Reviewers are normal people like you and me giving the game marks...the only review that really counts is your own, how you enjoy the game! Despite that, I've mostly read good and solid reviews about Y1 - Y4. This is why I chose to try out Yakuza 1 in the first place. I'd say that the Yakuza formula is pretty solid. However, it's kind of repetitive at times, Definitely. Many things in Yakuza reappear and get recycled...like, the map. Also many scenarios are just predictable since they seem to happen in every game...beware, major spoilers ahead! Well I won't mention names. F.e. a bad guy is beat and already dropped his gun, but stands up again to take back his gun and kill an important person. This happens in every Yakuza game. Final missions happen to be on rooftops and for some reason the characters tend to fight up there shirtless. As for the map, I'm okay with that. I already know my way around Kamurocho and revisit particular places. Ryukyu was a very nice addition in Yakuza 3. This game stood out with a new direction. Liked the whole setting in Okinawa. The contrast to Kamurocho was working well for me. Yakuza 4 seems a bit trite considering Kazuma Kiryu's story. He is involved in the whole thing, but could have also been left out. He feels like a side character in that game. Also, the finale was too much of a Yakuza 1 copy. Again millions of yen on Millenium Tower, again corrupt police men up there, again money raining into the streets...and Daigo Dojima, this was the biggest let down in the whole game. In Yakuza 2 he was portrayed as the new hope for the Tojo Clan. He makes a strong appearance, which continues in Yakuza 3. He treats Kiryu with respect and even saved his life twice...only to be some kind of traitor in Yakuza 4, even though not really a backstabber,...still he's Kiryu's antagonist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pink Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 The first one is great. I remember getting it on release. Probably heard about it in this forum. I didn't complete it though (I can't remember why) and I bet I'll ruin the memory of the quality of graphics in my head if I look at creens now hehe. EDIT: Actually the graphics still hold up. 🅵🅴🅽🅸🆇 🅵🆄🅽🅺 🅵🅸🆅🅴 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I just tried the Yakuza 3 demo, and I'm really not a huge fan. For one, there's too many things getting in your way. For example when heading to a mission marker, some random guy doesn't like your clothes and wants to fight you for it. Second, the fighting system is pretty terrible (for me), it just lacks any smoothness and doesn't feel very fluent. Third, the lack of voice acting for the majority of conversations bugged me a bit, it feels too 1990s for a 2009 game. The lack of English voice acting bugged me too, but I understand that because it's not fullly directed at the Western market and isn't work the money it takes to pay for the English acting. Oh, and that Karaoke bitch pissed me off, and the karaoke songs were horrible, plus the cheaply made intros to them XD What I did like though was the stores, and the little arcades. UFO Grabber Simulator 2009 bitch And how the world felt rather interactive. This would be a must buy if it was open world with vehicles and the above problems were fixed. Are they fixed in Yakuza 4 or 5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) I just tried the Yakuza 3 demo, and I'm really not a huge fan.For one, there's too many things getting in your way. For example when heading to a mission marker, some random guy doesn't like your clothes and wants to fight you for it. Its the way RPG's (like Pokemon) works its a random battle made for gain EX points and real experience. but they should add the option to RUN (as in pokemon) i dont know about Y5 but in 4 its not an option . however random battles in Y5 are more fluid (no loading before them and after) Second, the fighting system is pretty terrible (for me), it just lacks any smoothness and doesn't feel very fluent. It is very old school (it is the same from Yakuza 1) (Y4 made some improvments in lock on) and i dont know about 5. It's a matter of taste I like the combat system. Third, the lack of voice acting for the majority of conversations bugged me a bit, it feels too 1990s for a 2009 game. This is part of the "folklore" of the series, i understand you dont like it. I dont have problem with that. The lack of English voice acting bugged me too, but I understand that because it's not fullly directed at the Western market and isn't work the money it takes to pay for the English acting. Yakuza 1 has an Voice over, Most fans did not like it and making it cost money soo Y2 was only in JAP and all since , i like the Voice over in Y1 but Original voices are not a problem for me. What I did like though was the stores, and the little arcades. UFO Grabber Simulator 2009 bitch tounge.gifAnd how the world felt rather interactive Yakuza games are always full of fun minigames This would be a must buy if it was open world with vehicles and the above problems were fixed. I've heard that Y5 has a more open world. Also you can drive a taxi but this is more of an mini game than a part of actual game (you can tune the taxi and from what i saw its a crazy minigame) Edited January 4, 2013 by ludi911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkpile Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Third, the lack of voice acting for the majority of conversations bugged me a bit, it feels too 1990s for a 2009 game. This is part of the "folklore" of the series, i understand you dont like it. I dont have problem with that. This is something I actually do appreciate, too. The original voice actors sound good and these speech bubbles are dated indeed, but I do like them. In certain situations (mostly random events and side stories) you have people just saying only a word which underlines the very tone of a saying (angry, confused,...) while they do some gestures and you have to read these bubbles. Having these written speeches also gives the game an rpg feel to it and endless possibilities for substories and random events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman843 Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I want to ask a question. All gameplay vids I saw involved melee fight. Can you use guns in this game, and fight at the same time, kinda like Sleeping Dogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkpile Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I want to ask a question. All gameplay vids I saw involved melee fight. Can you use guns in this game, and fight at the same time, kinda like Sleeping Dogs? Guns are often seen in cutscenes and some bosses tend to have one. You can also buy guns. But the Yakuza games are mostly about melee fighting. No heavy gunplay like in Sleeping Dogs. Guns against bosses? Forget it. In Sleeping Dogs you could have shoot someone to death, like Ponytail in the end before the fight against Big smile Lee. Sure you can equip yourself with guns in boss fights...but don't expect them to die from...30 shots Like I said, it's mostly about melee fights. It's also appropriate for Japan considering their gun laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radoonhagaydoon Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/user/Snake2061986?feature=watch Snake *Yakuza OST uploader* just uploaded the OST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l911 Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/user/Snake2061986?feature=watch Snake *Yakuza OST uploader* just uploaded the OST good that you mention the ost, its very good in all Yakuza games (electronic music with some rock and eaven jazz elements) I dont know about Y5 ,i will listen it in game when it will be released to the west (i hope so) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radoonhagaydoon Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I wish I could play Y5 but the price is crazy on PLAY ASIA and I don't like how it takes forever to ship... I need like a 100$ pre-paid credit card I can use to buy stuff like that online. Crazy. Fighting is awesome, it feels arcade yeah... but only some people like that. The story of game is awesome, I ain't bothered by the lack of voice acting in general gameplay. Since there's alot of people in the game that can't be all voiced. I still yet to finish Dead Souls I also consider the game series a Beat 'em up Action Adventure RPG kinda. That race battle mini-game looks awesome... Yakuza has one of the best underrated soundtracks of all time, IMHO. Yakuza 4 main theme is still awesome, even if it's over 2 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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