I'm going to take a shower and then install the game. I hope there isn't stuff I can miss since my only experience with this kind of game was Red Dead and you could always go back and do whatever you needed to do. I don't want to FAQ this game so I want the freedom to play it however I want without thinking in the back of my head that I just missed this awesome moment because I didn't do X thing with Y.

Am I good to go?

Nothing really, just know that your going to have fun. Oh but be sure to keep up with all of your girlfriends and collect those jade statues!

Pick up the purse.

Dude. Just have fun, it's one of my favorite open world games ever. My advice, go do all the fight club missions and get all the awesome Kung Fu movie themed costumes for your character. Nothing better than running around kicking ass dressed like Bruce Lee.

@Icicle7x3 said:

Pick up the purse.

Also play Law of the West and kill everyone. Except the Doctor.

@golguin: You probably need to know that it has a billion patches or title updates or whatever they're called nowadays.

Drive on the left side of the road.

Except when you want to jump out of cars at high speed.

Which is all the time.

Do girlfriend missions as you get them. They reveal collectibles on the map. I never did them until late in the game when I had nothing left to do and regretted not doing them early. There's only one mission per girlfriend and you don't have to worry about them calling you up about karaoke or anything like that.

@Icicle7x3 said:

Pick up the purse.

Nice

Is there a respec option? I see skill trees everywhere.

Never, ever eat like Wei Shen in public, unless you actually want to be called a dog yourself.

Also, if you ever find the guy who sometimes shouts, "Takes some guts to wear that!" when you leave a clothing store, find him and break his legs (don't worry, you'll unlock a move that lets you do that).

Somehow... I read that title wrong

Make sure you don't miss the jade statues. They are easy to get, so don't worry.

Wear the bonus point outfits, prioritizing the triad ones. Those triad experience points are rarer than the rest. Date your girlfriends as soon as it seems like you'll get one, they allow collectibles to be shown on your map. Don't do illegal things while on missions. That reduces your cop experience for the mission.
 
The big money is obtained by betting on cock fights in the north-west area's docks. 50,000 minimum. Don't waste money on cars until you get the outfit to reduce the cost, or even the final face unlock (40% off). Street races for car classes you don't have in your garage will not show up on your map until you buy one. The races don't totally suck.
 
Take a weapon from your vehicle's trunk whenever you're expecting a fight.

@golguin: You can easily max the tree out, so respeccing is moot. Not really a lot of choice and I'm pretty sure you can finish the game without upgrades. Just don't worry about it.

Is there a respec option? I see skill trees everywhere.

No, the skill trees are linear, each one has its own points and you can max out all of them quite easily. And the only skill I would say is a must-have is the one that allows you to go into slow-mo after you jump out of cover.

@weirdo said:

Somehow... I read that title wrong

You and me both.

Here.

Just watch how Vinny plays it like a madman and go from there.

In Hong Kong you drive on the left side of the road so if you want to have the full open world game experience you need to drive on the right side.

You really don't need to know anything. If you ever find yourself lacking in some way just go to the night market. They got all the good dvd's you need.

Also if I had to build for one thing first.... I would recommend going for the car jacking skill. It not only makes being spotted stealing cars way less likely, if not impossible.... but it also makes it a crap ton faster which can help you in tons of spots. After that yeah, go for the slow mo shooting when leaping from cover.

Oh and enemy advice.

Normal dudes just grapple/punch them to death. The "boxer" dudes you grapple. Fat dudes you need to combo attack, go with counters if you get a chance. Weapon dudes you need to counter only at least until they lose their weapons.

I don't think you should be stressing out about unlocking and seeing everything. I got a good amount of my Face experience levelled, ALL the police branch, ALL the statues, and all but one of the Triad abilities through normal gameplay without going too far out of my way. Just play and have fun. The side missions (in my mind, anyway; I'm just done with open-world collectibles and side missions, myself) are mostly boring. Grind some of them for XP, but at a certain point you should just let all that go and enjoy the story.

Oh, and I bought exactly one car in my entire play through. Most of the time, jacking is the best option (true for many things in life), even though I have even more of a Niko Bellick disconnect with Wei and don't want to commit any crimes.

When an enemy flashes red, hold down the counter button instead of tapping it.

What do I need to know before I start Sleeping Dogs?

Absolutely nothing. Jump into that shit and get your face rocked off.

Let's hear more about that shower.

I already didn't get the car jacking skill and got the gun one instead. Are you guys saying I can max out both the top and bottom paths? You literally get every skill that you see?

EDIT: That is to say I don't need to sacrifice one skill to get another skill?

@golguin: Yep.

The only one you have a risk of not getting is the very last Triad skill (because Triad xp is a little harder to come by).

A man who never eats pork buns is never a WHOLE MAN!

How to play video games.

@golguin said:

I already didn't get the car jacking skill and got the gun one instead. Are you guys saying I can max out both the top and bottom paths? You literally get every skill that you see?

EDIT: That is to say I don't need to sacrifice one skill to get another skill?

Yes you can learn all of both trees from both cop and triad by end game. Also you don't have to go all or nothing, you can hop into the other line and it still works. Go into the cop tree and get the car jacking skill now. Seriously, it is the most useful skill in the game.

@Daiphyer said:

A man who never eats pork buns is never a WHOLE MAN!

Truer words have never been said.

If you live in the U.S. be prepared to be thrown off by traffic. I can't even count how many times I wasn't thinking and took a blind right turn directly into traffic. Not that it ever lead to anything but hilarious results.