Yakuza is a thing again, what should I expect?

OK, I ordered the third Yakuza game on Play Asia today, because 4 is coming to PSN and 5 is getting localized. It was the last copy they had in stock and I read that it has some recaps that retell the story of 1 and 2. Should that suffice? And what should I expect going into the series now? An adventure game? An action game? I honestly don't know. I only know that it's whacky and you can eat branded junk food. So I obviously bought it.

Raising orphans, beating up dudes with some simple but satisfying combat, QTEs, ridiculous minigames, collectables and sidequests backed by an interesting story.

The recaps are lengthy and good enough at telling you the basic story, you'll miss some references in later games though.

Games core is essentially the same. They added more side stuff but if you've played yakuza 1 and 2 expect more of the same.

Yakuza games are great, and you can fish on the beach, however you might get bored of the random battles by the end but the story is strong enough to see you through.

Semi open-world brawler with lots of optional mini-games and a gritty, somewhat over the top story about Japanese organized crime.

How do they handle the presentation? Cutscenes with voice overs or mostly just dialog boxes? I remember watching parts of a Quick Look of Yakuza 4 and it involved lots and lots of talking.

@lausebub: Pre-rendered cutscenes for major plot developments, occasionally some simple in-engine cutscenes, dialog boxes for everything else.

It's a Japanese soap opera with tons of brawling.

Yakuza is a lot like a action RPG, you level up, take quests, and occasional long story sequences. Just it's in modern japan. I love the series, it's dated in a few ways that makes it feel clunky. But it should get more prase for all the cool stuff it does.

It's very Japanese, which is becoming more and more of a novelty with the extreme westernization of modern video games. It's also tons of fun!

Every time someone skips the PS2 games to start with Yakuza 3 I cry myself to sleep.

Kind of like River City Ransom but WAY more advanced and with a much better/longer story.

You are set on starting with 3? I say this only because Yakuza 3 has a super slow start. You are running an orphanage for the first third of the game. While it is does eventually deliver on the story, I know Jeff never made it to that point because he disliked his time playing through the beginning.

Seeing Kiryu (the main char) try to get away from the gangster lifestyle in that beginning part of Yakuza 3 really drove home the fact of how serious he was about taking care of Haruka (his dead lover's daughter. I don't think any of this will come across if you jump in with Yakuza 3.

I would say, if you could stomach it being a PS2 game, start with Yakuza 2 if backwards compatibility is an option. You get more of the meat of the series right up front, that being yakuza ass yakuza stuff. There are some pretty alright prices on eBay.

Gameplay is a brawler. Sectioned off arenas to fight in, similar to jrpgs. Light level up system for attack power, special abilities, and health. Traversal is walking through streets and alleys of Okinawa or Kamurocho depending on where you are in the story. Story genre is drama with suspense and betrayal focused around the Tojo clan and the Dojima family (the head family of the Tojo clan)

I only ever played through 1 and half of 2. That being said, I've been meaning to get back to it for a long, long time. It's insanity. Pure, beautiful insanity.

Kazuma Kiryu is literally the most positive video game character to ever exist. Sure he is a Yakuza, but he never actually kills anybody. People just happen to die around him in coincidental ways when he's done fighting them or someone else kills them. Most of his time is spent finding lost cats, talking people out of suicide, and helping the elderly off the street and shit. He's a role model to us all and a true hero. I think in one of the games he fistfights a lion and wins.

@secondpersonshooter: Except for when he stabs people with knifes or lights them on fire with a modified lighter, or shoots people. He's a saint.

If I would have had access to a PS2 I would have gladly started at the beginning. I unfortunately did not so I started at Yakuza 3.

Greatness.

SEGA actually put out an HD version of the first two games on the Wii U, but good luck waiting for that game to come out here. Not sure whether there's a PS3 port, that could raise chances if the 5 does well, I guess.

Yeah the HD collection of 1 and 2 was released for the PS3 as well. Maybe if Yakuza 5 does well Sony will released those ports as downloadable titles in the future.

I feel like SEGA or another developer could take some of the Yakuza systems and finally make a true Streets of Rage sequel where you are part of the "police" or "renegade street justice force" trying to take down Mr. X and his goons. Add in plenty of ham-fisted dialogue and optional dating side quests and you have the best tribute to Streets of Fire.

Yakuza is like if Hideo Kojima made Shenmue, and I mean it as a compliment. The characters are great and it's a fantastic depiction of the Japanese crime world in a sort of soap opera style. I do think while the combat is brutal and satisfying, it's mechanically a bit clunky and hasn't aged particularly well. Someone should hand the devs a copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum as a reference for how they could improve their melee combat.

I would suggest starting with 4. It's got a good start, it doesn't REALLY need the first 3 games to make sense and gives you a good sense of what to expect, then go back and play 1 2 and 3 if you need more. Yakuza 3 is really tough to be the one to start with because (as someone said above) it is such a slow start, it's a nice way to come down after playing 2 and getting invested in the characters but I think it would be a lot harder to get into for someone who's never played the games, unlike 4.

@benderunit22: Not every game needs Batman combat. I really like the half Virtua Fighter half River City Ransom combat they have.

Indeed. If you skip Yakuza 2 you miss out on Yuma. The hostess with the best assets of any Yakuza game. And she is funny, if you tell her that it is a surprise that she can play piano since she should not be able to see the piano keys she laughs. Also you get to punch a tiger in the face! Not to mention the Yakuzas you meet that like to dress up like babies. Hilarious! Best Yakuza game IMO.

A combat system like Sleeping Dogs would probably would fit that style a bit better. Batman's combat system isn't necessarily superior, it's just that you're playing as the fucking Batman. It would look weird to see your dude fly across the screen to punch a goon in the face just the fly across the screen again to punch the other goon that's at the edge of screen.

I'm playing Metal Gear Solid 2 right now and even that game has clunky controls, despite its improvements over the first entry. But I'm used to that when I'm playing most Japanese games. They offer something very special, but you also lose some of the streamlined mechanics you see in western games a lot.

I hope my copy arrives soon. Play Asia can be random with that stuff. Sometimes it only takes a week, sometimes it takes a month.

@lausebub: No worries starting here. I started with 3, loved it, went on to 4, loved it, became super disappointed that they weren't bringing 5 over, and today I'm hype as hell. This series is awesome.

3 does have a slow start, but I don't think that's a bad thing by any means, because this is a very plot-centric game. Considering you have a Persona 4 avatar, I'm assuming you can appreciate a good period of build-up before shit goes down. Yakuza's combat is in the form of a 3D brawler, but this series is a damn JRPG in disguise. And it's great. And goddamn insane.

I should clarify that the main offense of the combat for me is the way characters (both the player and the enemies) can dorkily whiff their combos if the game deems that they're not lined up just right, so while the hits feel visceral, missing them and seeing characters slide past each other like two magnets facing the same charge takes you out of the experience.

@benderunit22: Hold R1 to always be facing a dude.

For some reason, this post makes me want to watch a "Like a Bomb" - playthrough of the Yakuza series with Vinny and Alex.

I never played a Yakuza game before, but I'm thinking of jumping in, in part to show support for localizing niche games. In part because it seems like a slightly over the top entertaining ride.

@corevi said:

@rafaelfc said:

In part because it seems like a slightly over the top entertaining ride.

AKA Part of the reason why people should play Yakuza 2. People use this scenario out of context to describe the crazier parts of the Yakuza games. But during this part of the story, the fact that a Yakuza boss was keeping tigers as pets and decides to let them lose on Kiryu made sense to me and I thought it was awesome.

It's basically a JRPG in a modern setting with brawler combat. Lots of fun side activities. They combat system has some depth if you like to experiment with different weapons and learn new moves at the dojo. There are some awesome/brutal/hilarious combos and situational special moves to unlock.

I agree, but you can't deny that punching a tiger in the fucking face isn't over the top.

@corevi: lol I guess I can't.

There is also an underground information broker that has a whole casino underneath Tokyo so I guess that's a little over the top too.

You will definitely get your fill of Japanese crazy. Yakuza is no different than Metal Gear Solid in that regard.

@corevi said:

@rafaelfc said:

In part because it seems like a slightly over the top entertaining ride.

Woah, there is tiger punching in this game?!?!?! I am SO IN!!!!

The game is overly Japanese... overly. Kind of how GTA games are full of references to American pop culture and films, Yakuza is to Japanese culture and mob films.

Combat is visceral and the setting is over the top. Not Platinum levels of over the top, but still... No one will accuse Yakuza games of being restraint.

Does it have a lot of Takashi Miike references? I've never seen any of his films.

Yakuza is less dumb than Metal Gear Solid I would say and the voice acting is the industry's finest.

@lausebub: A few here and there but most of the references are just to Japanese culture in general.

Fun fact: Miike directed the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney movie

From what I remember the ps2 copies of Yakuza 1 & 2 were pretty hard to find after release and were pretty expensive even for used copies. Not sure if much as changed over the past 10 years or so but It would be cool if Sega would do some sort of re-release for those games. Probably not going to happen but still!

They released an HD Collection in Japan but it never came out here.

Keep the heartbreaks coming.

Pretty much exactly a month after I made the thread, my copy of Yakuza 3 arrived from Singapore. Not the best timing since I wanted to start playing MGS3 this week.

That man's directed just about every genre you can think of, it's pretty crazy. Also really good.

E: Oh god I didn't realise this was a month old thread.

Sorry, my fault for bumping it. Just wanted to report that I could theoretically play that crazy game now.

Japanese gangsters.

Yeah shipping from Play Asia takes forever when you're cheap. Also it's really weird that they say they ship from Hong Kong but everything I've ever ordered from them has been from Singapore.

@lausebub: By thinking that it is a crazy game you might start playing it while expecting a japanese version of just cause or sr3 but it is not like that all.

The game tries to stick to its roots most of the time but it's not ashamed of breaking the conventional wall if there's a fun idea lying behind it.