Ok, I played 4 and liked it....so now what?

Ok, so on a whim I picked up Yakuza 4, and finished it (skipping a lot of the side stuff due to backlog). I've thought about trying other games in the franchise, but I have some questions.

1) Seeing as I played 4, should I play 3 now, or since I went thru the reminisce mode, I should just hold off? (aka will my experience of 3 be spoiled after playing 4, knowing some things were removed from 3?)

2) Every review makes Yakuza: Dead Souls seem FUCKED. Is it really that awful, and should I steer clear?

3) Is there anything else I should know aside from apparently SEGA is giving this series the PSO2 treatment (aka not coming overseas....like ever)?

You should still play 3.

Dead Souls is really bad, it focuses on gun combat instead of the awesome fist fighting and the story isn't interesting in the slightest.

The new games aren't worth importing unless you understand Japanese.

I don't know, but Giant Bomb dudes tossed around the idea (briefly) of doing an Endurance Run of Dead Souls.

That's not an attempt to say it's good. I never played it. I just think that's interesting and this thread made me think of that.

As a big Yakuza fan. I'd try Dead Souls next. I really like Dead Souls. I think a lot of people were playing it "wrong". Trying to use the free aim over the fast run n gun auto aim. Which is a lot of fun to me. The story is alright but there are some great scenes with Majina and Akiyama. So if you liked the characters I'd say you'd get enjoyment out of the story.

In regards to 3 I feel like it's the weakest in the series in terms of pacing and story. The game has a very slow opening. You don't get to Kamurocho till 10-15 hours in. I played it about 3 weeks ago it was kinda tough getting through it. The story isn't very interesting and doesn't really pick up. The only value I'd say you'd get out of it if you have played 1. One specific character has a surprise role. I'd say play the others in the series and I'm sure you don't want to run a near identical Kamurocho again.

If you'd be willing to play the ps2 games, they're really good. Both 1 and 2 have a better story than 4. Affer that I'd highly recommend Kenzan, the first samurai spin off. It's my favorite in the series. And 100% of the main story was translated by KHHsubs and a fantastic guide on GameFaqs by ThePatrick. 5 and Ishin I'd hold off on for the time being. 5's story is slowy being translated but Ishin has an extensive guide made but no cutscenes were directly translated. Please give some of the other games a chance. They're all just as good as 4 and are a truly unique gem of a series

Learn Japanese fluently so you can play Yakuza 5.

Yakuza 3 is totally worth going back too.

Avoid Dead Souls, as someone who is a huge fan of the series, I despise that game for actually killing the series in North America. It's bad. Very bad. Combat is boring, story is uninspired and dumb without actually being charming, pacing is rough. Dead Souls is pretty fucked.

Instead of me rambling, you should read THIS FAN REVIEW by a user (@yummylee) on the site who can articulate it a lot more clearly than I.

@emoney244: I'm thinking of tracking down 2, but I think 1 may be "skippable" based on what I've seen/heard. Thinking of playing 2 and 3 based on what I've seen (since I can get 3 on the cheap....I think)

That said, I want to give the other games a chance, as (oddly enough) seeing so many antiquated aspects of the game, I'm still fascinated by it (personally I see 4 as a 7-8/10), but damn that game's kinda pervasive. It's been sticking in my head more than other games do, which just means I loved it despite the flaws. Hence why I ask the duders. Ya haven't steered me wrong before.

As for learning Japanese. I wish I had the time to do so, but alas I do not.

Lament that we will never get any of the spin offs or 5. What a cruel, dark place this world is..

I liked yakuza 3 more than 4, mostly because I didn't like the way 4 jumped around to different characters and I never got to learn any one in depth. That said, the fighting can get repetitive in 3, whereas 4 had the different fighting styles to play around with. 3 has a better story though, if you ask me.

So yeah, play 3.

As a guy who recently delved back into Yakuza and is currently on/off with 4 I'd say play 3 but go back and do the side stuff in 4 before moving on. There's alot of dumb stuff in that game which is pretty freakin hillarious. If you got the money and know a bit of japanese might recommend importing the two old school samurai era yakuza spin-offs for ps3. I heard those games are pretty much Yakuza in feudal Japan.

@viciousbearmauling: I'm surprised I'm in such a minority regarding Dead Souls. I guess it isn't for everyone but TC it is really cheap and not as long as 4.

Maybe these two reviews will help you decide. I think it'd be a shame if you skipped the first game I think it is pretty important playing that first before 3 at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASe5_9vC4jY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCS8ZqV0unY

There was never an HD Collection of 1&2 for the States, yeah? My preferences seem to go 1-2-3-4. Never played Dead Souls.

I thought 4 was okay, but I only liked playing as 2 of the 4 characters so it kind of dragged for me.

3 is probably still worth playing. I know it's a Yakuza game, but I remember the pacing was pretty bad for me (orphanage).

I'd say definately play 3 (personally it's my favourite) the first 2 probably havent aged well.

I recommend looking up the videos for Yakuza 1&2 on Youtube. I don't think the HD versions ever came out outside of Japan, and getting a PS2 to play them can be a hassle. The summary videos that come with Yakuza 3 and 4 covers very little. If you want to get better acquainted with the characters and the story progression, see all that the first two games has to offer.
Yakuza 3 is an amazing soap opera of a gangster story, manliness accompanied with shirtless fighting and crying. The entire series is just a bizarre mix between soap, Hokuto no Ken style fighting/crying and the typical Yakuza crime story, so I love it.

@madman356647: You LIKED it? You disgusting sicko!

Nah, Welcome to the fold! Yes, Yakuza 3 is a bit neutered but nothing from the main story arc was touched only a handful of side missions and activities. You should still totally play it. While you may know some of the grander plot points and twists the actual more detailed story has sub-plots that are well worth participating in first hand. Also, yeah, you can stay away from Dead Souls and you won't be missing anything. Its a side story and the shooting is real awful although it is really dumb and fun in a campy way IF and only if you can tolerate the awful controls.

But that is what made it so effective later on when they go to tear down the orphanage! The mundane quests build up relationships with the kids and the locals so when that scene near the end happens its really effective because you actually care about the characters!

Go play Yakuza 1 and 2, they make 3 and even 4 look like shit in comparison. Actual competent crime dramas instead of the poorly written soap-opera the series became when they made the jump to PS3 and switched writers. As someone who adored 1 and especially 2, Yakuza 3 was a massive disappointment. 4 got things somewhat back on track, but it still pales in comparison to those first two games.

Well, I was able to track down 2 for a (reasonable) price, so I have that, and I know 1 and 3 are easy gets. I think I'll try 1 and work from there. Maybe even revisit 4 someday.

@cornbredx: I think you're getting Dead Souls mixed up with 4. I distinctly remember a bombcast or something where Vinny recounts at one point going up to Jeff and suggesting they do an ER of Yakuza 4. They did a QL of Dead Souls and pretty much thoroughly disliked it.

I agree on Yakuza 2. That was my first game and it was great. Yakuza 3 was not as good but still fun. Yakuza 4 was better. I just ordered Yakuza 1 for PS2 since the HD version will never come out here. I already know the main story from watching the retrospective in Yakuza 2 but I still want to play the first game since it is the only English release I don't have. Dead Souls I gave up on but I just started playing that again to try to finish it. It is nowhere near the main series but for us outside Japan we have to take the Yakuza games we get. I plan on importing Yakuza 5 and the samurai spin offs eventually since I found some translations.

The Yakuza games are so great and they remind me of playing Shenmue as a teenager and loving it. I did not play Yakuza 2 until 2010 or 2011 but even if the PS2 was old at that point it was the best game experience I had that year.

True. I've been playing Yakuza 1 (which isn't bad, but som questionable dubbing and Mark Hamill swearing <3), and it's still holdin up.

You can get the first game for cheap too, like 15 bux.

you should for sure get yakuza 3.i also liked dead souls alot,but i realize its not for everyone.i also agree with the person who said people play it wrong and dont use the auto aim.

I remember really loving Yakuza 1 because of the hilarious cursing. Once you learned the high animation priority fighting it also became kinda cool. ITS LIKE THE DARK SOULS OF BRAWLERS AM I RITE GUYS, JUST LIKE DARK SOULS, ANIMATION PRIORITY DARK SOULS DARK SOULS.

I played through 2 and it was still fun. Yakuza 3 seemed like a lot more of the same so I skipped it. Yakuza 4 was really interesting in that each of the characters handled really differently - so there was always that steep curve of "oh shit how the hell am I going to ever get used to this" each time you took control of a new guy. As much as I enjoyed 4 I think it was the perfect place for me to have enough of the series. I don't know if 5 takes place in a completely different area, I can only hope so, but unless it's dramatically different then I'm fine with not really getting to play it - thanks Yakuza, I've had my fun and those were good times.

Yea. If I did a drinking game to every time the word "fuck" was used in Yakuza 1... NEW PLAN!