Unfinished: Yakuza 6 02/07/2018

Alex let Danika from Waypoint borrow his copies of 2, 3, and 4 and she plans to stream herself playing them all starting next Wednesday I believe. So probably at least not anytime soon for GB content but we can enjoy her playing them!

@zeik: I'll never tell someone they shouldn't play the most current game if the other option is never play the games at all. But it is just very difficult to recommend anyone do that with this series. At least you can pretty much mainline the earlier games in the series because the super silly fun sidequest thing doesn't really start kicking in until around Yakuza 3-4 and doesn't really hit current standards until 5. Plus they really aren't that long until 5 and 0.

I guess its one of those perfect world things but I just cant imagine someone missing out on how Yakuza 5 does this incredible thing of taking all the previous games and themes and shooting for the fucking moon. For me the ending sequences of that game was such an emotional experience unlike I have had in other games because of all the build up, character development, and thematics from the previous games leading into it.

I want to keep watching Alex, Dan, and Vinny playing and reacting to it. Not someone I barely know on a different website I have no interest in following.

Anyway, Alex has confirmed on Twitter that he wants to continue with Beast In The East, so there's still hope.

@hassun: isn't that a stomach meter so you can't pig out on food for stats?

Also Ikinari Steak at 15:17! Great cheapish Japanese steakhouse that's just expanding soon in New York, including a branch over by the CBS Building. They sell steak by the gram in Japan, but because we use ounces over here, they had to convert it so Americans wouldn't be confused. Also, it was a standup place with no seats, but that didn't go over too well in their first location off of Astor Place, so they put chairs in, dunno if that'll be their approach in the States going forward. Recommend @alex and Vinny check it out once it opens, or go down to Astor Place for a decent and relatively cheap steak!

Lastly, too bad this game was made before news of Okada's relationship with Mimorin broke out early this year and she could've been referenced, since Yakuza included idol stuff all the time. The Rainmaker and the Love Arrow sounds like a great mixed tag team.

where to cop rabbit box logo hoodie?

Own it now, lightly used, for only $2000

I totally agree. While it stumbles in a couple of places the end of 5 it`s absolutely amazing and it`s one of the reasons why 5 is still my favorite in the series.

@odinsmana: @kid_gloves: I'm kinda surprised. The last like fourth of 5 is where that game lost me. I kinda had to force myself to finish it. I feel like that game really lost steam after Shinada showed up.

For a second I thought this was a sick burn aimed at Electronic Arts. Then I realized you were talking about Early Access games.

I am very glad that GB is covering Yakuza.

I guess we all like different things about the series. I am not about to say 5 is a perfect game but I will always take dramatic themes being pulled off over air tight plots, and that is how I would characterize the strengths of Yakuza 5... it is going for something thematically and its really fucking going for it. It stumbles here and there trying to get all the pieces in place but I forgive that stuff because I admire what is attempting to do.

I actually really really like the Shinada stuff and it might be my favorite part of the game. It is definitely way stronger than the Tanimura part of Yakuza 4. I just find him a really likable character with really understandable problems. It may be all a bit convoluted how it works out but his emotional arc is probably the most complete in the game. In a lot of ways the Yakuza games and 5 in particular are about people at the edges of society and power structure (even the underworld) with no place or family of their own struggling to achieve their ideals and dreams in the face of it all.... and Shinada might be the best embodiment of that theme.

Shinada also has the best supporting character in the game in Takasugi (the loan shark). The two of them has such a great chemistry and every scene with them is such a delight.

Hell yeah Otto the Syracuse Orange getting a Vinny shoutout!

@kid_gloves: Huh. I guess it's good to see some other perspectives, because I really didn't care for Shinada much at all. I found him to be the weakest playable character in the series by a large margin. (Didn't help that I really don't like his playstyle either.) I think I might have liked him a bit more if they had introduced him sooner, but his chapter comes right when the story really starts to pick up, and then it grinds to a halt with this random dude I don't care about that's only tangentially related to the plot.

Maybe I'm still just peeved that Akiyama got so little screentime in comparison. Shinada's got nothin' on my boy Akiyama.

I don’t know if they address this and I just skipped it, but I hope they fix the lack of facial animations before launch.

I cannot wait to play this!

I just finished Kiwami, and now I'm stuck.

Do I wait for/play Kiwami 2...or do I just take the plunge into 6??

Edit: Nevermind! Having watched this, I will definitely be skipping to 6.

@undeadpool: I recommend bare minimum playing 4 before 6.

I wish I had that kind of time, but I'll have to settle for recaps. I actually played a decent chunk of 2-4 back in the day.

@alex not to say that they don't appear in the game somewhere but none of the drinks in that vending machine are licensed. Some of them look quite similar to actual drinks however. Just FYI.

This just makes me want more Beast in the East. That was my favorite GiantBomb feature. Watched a few of those episodes multiple times because the game plus the commentary was just gold throughout.

Please do a new Beast in the East soon, guys. Your first series was so much fun Id love to see another full playthrough of any Yakuza game... Doesnt really need to be Kiwami. Just one that the crew is excited about, even if it ends up being 6 id be down

@ghoststalker: @zeik: Oh ok.

k i'm gonna need you fellas to play this entire thing on video now.

Glad this is delayed gives me some time to get through 4 and 5. I'm really liking the updates to the combat i'm seeing, looks real fluid.

I've been watching Danika stream some of it on Waypoint, and man this game is something.

I really want to wait until Kiwami 2 comes out and then play 3-5 (4 and 5 are on PS Now, don't know how i'm gonna play 3, don't want to buy a PS3 just to play it). But I imagine Kiwami 2 is probably not going to be out until next year.

...And this is really testing my willpower.

I spent 2 weeks in Japan in 2016, can't wait for this

Nice, Vinny with the Spaceballs reference right off the bat.

It's been a year since Beast in the East started. And over half a year since it ended.

Yakuza Kiwami, please?

It probably says something about the series that when Alex said "clan battles" I heard "clam battles" and didn't even think nothing of it.

Tiny bit disappointing that it wasn't the case though?

"Kazuma Kiryu has never killed a man" #475

I have seen other Yakuza 6 footage that looked GREAT. So why did it appear that GB was playing and being shown really low-resolution Yakuza 6? Was ist just me...was it a fever dream?

Excited to see this one :)

This is the second Unfinished video in a row to not show up in my RSS HD feed.

I can't wait for yakuza 6 kiwami, coming out in 2032.

Is little sis wearing a Supreme hoodie?

Hot take: As much as I love Yakuza after 0 and Kiwami and trust that this game is gonna be as insane and fun as ever, the graphics and combat kind of looks like total shit. Then again, after Kiwami, it's pretty much proven that I don't need great graphics or good combat to enjoy a Yakuza game.

For anyone interested, Yakuza 4 and 5 just showed up on Playstation Now.

I'm gonna try spending time with them, if only 2 and 3 were readily available...

Well, Yakuza continues to be Yakuza. I like how you can walk in and out of buildings without a load time. I do hope SEGA make good on their promises to Yakuza/Persona games on PC. I'd love to play them.

@kone said:

Not sure why, but scrolling past that GIF I thought it was Abe Hiroshi for a second and got _really_ confused. Either way, that's a pretty great GIF.

Oh, the Hiroshima stuff is very cool! I used to live in Hiroshima, it's a "small town" of about a million people. Very beautiful and historic, though (and not just for that one horrible thing that happened there).

Something that's kind of funny about Hiroshima is that there is a unique dialect of Japanese spoken there ("Hiroshima-ben") that is based on Kansai-ben (spoken throughout Western Japan) but with a number of substantial differences.

That particular dialect is essentially what is used in Yakuza films for the Yakuza. So when you speak Hiroshima-ben, you kinda sound like a Yakuza (actually the Yakuza all sound like they're from Hiroshima, but whatever).

I wonder if the locals in Hiroshima will speak Hiroshima-ben in this game (I was kind of disappointed in Yakuza 0 that the people in Osaka mostly didn't speak Kansai-ben, with the exception of Majima of course who always spoke it).

that squid encounter music was great.