January 2018: Month Of Yakuza

Going all in on this franchise is my motto for this month. In most cases this could have easily lead to me getting tired of Kiryu by the time the final credits rolled in Yakuza 5. Yet in the end it just made me even more hyped to see the conclusion of the epic 6 game arc about one of the nicest tough guys around.

Much of why this series is so beloved is thanks to the fact we get to generally see the same crew of misfits grow and age over the different games. Getting to see how they handle the next crazy crime drama to drop into their lap is fun. How serious they can be slowly starts to be countered by a focus on some silly antics on the side. Early on this isn’t really played up at all yet the latest games have some fun with the side stories in a way that made me want to seek them out. Even if they weren’t all great they give the game some needed levity to the situation that he heroes are in.

Overall this is why this series stands out compared to other crime dramas. It really is tough to balance the zany with the bleak yet the Yakuza team has apparently mastered that skill quite a few years ago. Should be fun to see if Y6 continues this trend but until then I’ve got a few things to say about most of the series. To bad I don’t have a way to play the second game or this is pretty much a complete set other than the side stories.

List items

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  Yakuza Kiwami

  Upfront Kiwami is a direct remake of the first Yakuza game. Aided by a new translation that didn’t need to have someone say “fuck” every line of dialogue it manages to get its themes across without being a lovable high budget mess. I do appreciate the original for how silly it was but this remake is just a better playing version of the same thing. Sure this takes a lot of stuff from Yakuza 0 but they turn that crutch into a advantage by having a bunch of callbacks.. Which is great for someone that played through that game 1 year ago. The new scenes showing off how Nishami turned from a lovable bro into a power hungry madman make it a bit more cohesive than before. Even the fighting which is exactly the same had me switching between one form to the next all the time. Overall a good little package that may not hit all the same heights as the previous game yet it still maintains a level of quality that is worth seeing if dramatic crime dramas with a bit of silliness on the side appeals to you.

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  Yakuza 3

  Going back this far shows off how much the team behind this series makes use of similar assets in every game till this day. Each story is obviously different like in the case of this one Kiryu once again gets pulled back into the world of the Yakuza after his new orphanage in Okinawa gets targeted for destruction. At some point you would think these guys would understand that messing with the Dragon Of Dojima is bad for their health. New areas get added too with the old streets of Kamurocho always being part of the mix. Seeing all the little changes each time is neat too since the area is never quite the same other than the layout. Each time the systems get refined as well since at this point they still used the simple straightforward level up system that changes into something a bit more robust later. The fighting style may only be one move set but it is still fun. Mixing a bunch of light and heavy attacks together is just something that can always work in a video game if it looks cool. The heat moves always bring out he flourish to keep all the brawls from becoming tiresome.

  Unfortunately not all is well since this game has pacing issues. The reason I didn’t finish this when I first picked it up 7 years ago was that it spends way to much time on showing Kiryu helping one of the kids in his orphanage. Sure seeing how much he cares is a great payoff for what happened later but 6 hours of busy work before the main plot kicks in is a bit to much. They also got better at crafting mini games and side stories that I want to see. Golf being the main big new attraction along with a hitman beat up simulator being the main side story was eh. Nothing really bad with either they just didn’t keep me interested in playing them. Making this game one of the low points in this series. Some good stuff is still here it just takes a while before it starts getting interesting. Lets see if that changes any in the sequel.

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  Yakuza 4

  I’m sad I didn’t play this game till now since it is a huge improvement over 3. I wasn’t sure if they could pull off 4 different protagonist at once. From the start I expected the timeline to go all over place but the story keeps a positive flow from one character to the next. Trying to sum up all the different narratives would take way to long. Leaving me with the simple explanation of one woman named “Lily” that links them all together. All of them have different goals yet this one link ends up opening up a crazy betrayal story that never lets up till the credits roll.

  The 4 different styles of combat makes it pretty clear how they eventually got around to having 4 different styles for Kiryu/Majima in Zero. Each one has a different feel and unique feature to keep them from becoming to similar. Gives the fights some variety even if all the enemies are the same. Each game usually has one mini game that gets me hooked for a while. In this one Saejima gets convinced to train some untrained karate men into champions. Which is via a menu based training regiment. Each new student has their own little story arc too which was fun to see. Overall a much better paced game with a story line that had enough hooks to keep me going till the dramatic four way final fight.

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  Yakuza 5

  The amount of ambition that went into this release is at a whole new level compared to what came before. Relying on old assets is how the team behind this game manages to release a new title every year. Obviously that is still a factor yet this time they crafted 4 brand new areas to explore based on different urban areas of Japan. Along with 4 new sub story mini games that tell their own narrative that had me more interested in seeing their conclusions than the main story. The sheer amount of content that I wanted to see left me with a almost 60 hour playtime compared to the 20-30 for the rest of the series.

  Which wasn’t thanks to the main arc following the latest crime drama shenanigans. Kiryu gets banished from his family so Haruka can live her dream of being a pop star. Yet he can never quite leave the Yakuza lifestyle no matter how hard he tries. Sajima gets thrown in jail again along with another predictable breakout senario. Haruka goes through the trials of tribulations of what it takes to be a pop star with Akiyama providing punching support when things get serious. Shinada is the only new character who gets thrown into the mix thanks to his convenient ties to Daigo along with his baseball issues. Each of these arcs are mostly separate from the overall conspiracy till all the pieces come together near the end. Which mostly means I liked some chapters more than others and the whole thing comes off as a contrived mess of a story. Which is redeemed via a very emotional finale. Even if the final boss didn’t really earn his OP status.

  Huh, I haven’t really thought about bringing up the gameplay part since it’s so similar to the last game. Other than adding a ultimate attack and a few new heat moves the move sets are pretty similar. While throwing dudes into the river is never not fun the even greater focus on varying up the gameplay with in depth mini games like Haruka’s idol trainer simulator keeps the standard beat em up sections from becoming boring. Overall another good Yakuza game that even made me tear up during the conclusion.