Quick Look: Yakuza Remastered Collection

Slightly gutted that the boxed European copy doesn't have the little hidden "Majima Everywhere" easter egg, but super happy to finally have access to all the Yakuza games.

short boyz rise up

Now this is content I can get behind!

There is something about the gameplay and pace of Yakuza games that make the great for watching someone else play.

When Alex says " I don't think that's Akiyama." He is totally wrong. Akiyama's backstory is that he was a homeless man who gathered a bunch of money after the Millenium Tower explosion in Yakuza 1 and used it to start his loan business. He's a loan shark with a heart of gold and secretly the best character in the series.

Mr. A! I liked Yakuza games since day one, but 4 was the one that turned me into an insufferable fan. Just the best from start to finish. So happy more people will play it now.

Edit: Oh my, she calls him "Chief" instead of "Mr. A" in this version. That's probably not funny to anyone except me but that is very funny.

Yep. Akiyama is basically Yakuza's Tom Nook.

Since Dan left I think I never watched an east video to the end. There is no goofing or anything. Just 3 people talking about safe topics like toys and kids.

The Toy Story conversation is really distracting.

I keep wanting to play these games, but I'm foolishly holding onto the hope that GB will play through them all eventually.

I'm pretty sure the short people song by Randy Newman is supposed to be a parody on how stupid racism is.

@zabiam: I was aware of that too. Listening to Vinny apparently not understand that was a weird, strange double irony. A lot of people misunderstood that song and some radio stations refused to play it, I think.

I think the weird exercise device is a "rodeo chair exercise machine"

Sorta like those weird hula dance inspired American office chairs that oscillate

The Yakuza 4 portion that Alex plays through is the same as the original Quick Look Jeff and Ryan did 9 years ago. Play them side by side. Aside from the game being sharper, I noticed some of the subtitles are different. They must have done another pass at the localization.

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/quick-look-yakuza-4/2970-14837

Yakuza 5 QL (4 years ago) also overlaps with the breakfast scene in Kiryu's apartment. Graphical difference isn't as pronounced with this one but the frame rate is smoother.

I've been waiting for new releases to get into Yakuza from the beginning, but I haven't been paying attention so I'm a little confused. Is there a way to play all of them easily? If this is 3-5, were 1 and 2 rereleased anywhere at all? Tell me how to play Yakuza.

Also, tell me how to watch Criminal on Netflix. Is there a certain order to them or what?

@vinny Reduce, reuse, and recycle. :) I'm sure that, like me, you also watched Captain Planet after school. What a great song.

@eccentrix: 1 and 2 had remakes released on ps4, pc and I think on xbox one as well. Currently the only place to play all of the games is on ps4 though I think they've mentioned bringing the rest of the series to pc as well.

@tropesage: Thank you! I must have missed them.

@eccentrix: Keep in mind that there's Yakuza 0, as well, which most people say start playing that game to get into the series. There is also a digital collection on PS4 that contains Yakuza 0, 1, and 2 together. So if you are starting from scratch and want to play digitally on PS4, buy that collection. I just looked it up, it's called The Yakuza Origins. As mentioned above, 0, 1, and 2 are also on PC, and 0 is already on Xbox (also on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox and PC), and 1 and 2 will show up on Xbox (and Game Pass for PC) later this year. I have not seen direct mention of 3-6 for PC and Xbox, but hopefully they'll show up on those platforms someday.

@sloprunner: Oh, really? That`s interesting.

@tropesage: Yakuza 0 actually releases on Xbox next week (on the 26th, to be precise). Kiwami 1&2 will be releasing as ome time later this year. All of them will be available in Game Pass at launch.

They haven't said anything about any further games yet, but hopefully they do well enough and the rest of them are ported eventually.

@madmatt213: Thank you for the additional information. I was planning on starting with 0, my confusion was that I didn't know the Kiwamis were remakes, I thought they were spin-offs. Time to finally play Yakuza!

I hope Mass Alex doesn't end up like Beast in the East.

Yakuza 3 and 4 are the same engine, 5 uses an engine that's much closer to the one in 0.

And yes that bum is indeed Akiyama, it's a scene that takes place during the ending of Yakuza 1, but I guess it stands to reason that Alex doesn't recognize these events as he hasn't finished Kiwami yet.

@eccentrix: Highly recommend NOT starting with Yakuza 0, considering it is a prequel that expects you to have played the other games first. True, the beast crew were able to understand it just fine, but there's references and things you just won't get if you haven't played the others. Plus, it introduced the style change system which I didn't like as much. Kiwami 1 and 2 also have it, but they're also a better place to start as story wise they're the first in the series. Now, I personally started with 4 and it includes a story summary of the first 3 games in the main menu, so you could do that and go back and play the first 3 later. I would say that's a good way to do it, since that's what I did, and I love how there are 4 distinct characters with their own style instead of Kiryu just having all of them.

You can 100% start with Yakuza 0. It does not expect you to have played the previous games first. I even played Kiwami 1 after 0 and that game's story was basically rewritten to be a sequel narrative to 0.

Start with 0.

Yakuza 0 is your start point. It's on PC and PS4 and Game Pass.

Yakuza Kiwami 1 is a remake of Yakuza 1. Same release situation.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a remake of Yakuza 2. Same release situation.

Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 are vailable through these remasters.

Yakuza 6 is PS4 exclusive afaik.

It's been a wild ride with a new Yakuza game coming out seemingly every 6 months, but there's your path! Enjoy it.

Edit: also extremely start with yakuza 0. The story in yakuza 1 has aged like milk and yakuza 0 does so, so so much to build up the central characters in that game and give the story a heart. Otherwise it's a pretty iffy Japanese melodrama with baffling combat encounter designs.

I've been playing the remasters since they first released (without three, four and five at first). I started with Kiwami, went through Kiwami 2, then 0 and after with three, four and now five. I think that's a good order too. I'm on five currently; about 30 something hours in. These games are great. Decent enough stories, but very similar throughout. It gets hilarious how it is structured and always ends on top of a skyscraper with characters tearing their shirts off for a final battle. The characters are great: Kiryu and Majima are some of my favorites in recent memory.

The combat is okay, but not what I go to these games for. After the first game, combat for the entire series just became something that got in the way for me. It can be goofy fun at times though. I am there for the story and the world as well as humorous side stuff. I wish that at this point it was optional, where you could somehow talk your way around it in certain situations because it's predictable and I just sigh every time now. Five is the first game to introduce new, integral gameplay mechanics that don't revolve around melee combat, which is hunting, and even more so, dancing/singing. I don't enjoy them though. I do like, however, that it has a lot of trivia stuff.

I stopped playing five for now as I got Anthem, but I'll go back to it at some point. I'm excited to finish Kiryu's story. Exploring and getting to know the locations you visit, as well as seeing the characters grow throughout the series is something I've enjoyed. I'll be kind of sad once I'm done seeing Kamurocho in subsequent games. Six is of course next. I'm not sure if I'll get Judgment, but probably 7 at some point.

We can finally find that 20 bucks.

It's kind of annoying Alex has only played a little bit of all of these games. The plots are pretty complicated (and melodramatic AS HELL) so it's clear he doesn't remember all the details, or know the details. For instance him not knowing Akiyama first shows up in 4. Also it's funny that, as longevitous pointed out that they've played through some of these parts on this very site already. In fact I think that Yakuza 5 QL was my first exposure to Yakuza

Also Alex claiming the heat moves in 3,4 and 5 as not being as elaborate as they are in the newer games. He has clearly not experienced the magic of 'revelations'

Hopefully we get these on PC soon. The PC ports of the Yakuza games have been great so far.

That Yakuza 5 bit really was like the old quick look besides the sidequest they missed. Vinny's right, time is a flat circle.

Like others have said, would love for these to come out on PC.

Another East QL to skip.

@zinkn said:

You're right. I miss all of the gross stories about teeth being pulled, or what his stool looks like, or the various ways he has vomited or made other people vomit, or turning everything into a wrestling analogy, or inane questions about whether an apple is a fruit. (See? I can do it, too. So, let's not. Do you also miss Drew, Austin, Patrick, and Ryan?)

Anyway, I'm not going to begrudge anyone for not understanding or caring deeply about Yakuza's melodramatic story that spans, what, seven games? But the series definitely locked everything in and hit its stride with Yakuza 4, and you can absolutely start with Yakuza 0 because it only builds off of what they've learned. You don't have to Machete Order this series or anything. They've gotten so confident about these that they're actually trying to make the next one an RPG, and it still looks good.

Yeah, they relocalized them. I believe part of that was also removing/rewriting the homophobic and transphobic content.

Was checking out the series & spinoffs when I noticed Yakuza: Dark Souls. Yo this looks cool, can we get a bit on a random stream, maybe? (If they haven't already).

Edit: Nevermind, they did a quick look, OBVIOUSLY😂

"Has he ever had a wife?"

Goro Majima

@doctorfaust:Giantbomb's current team is perfect. Cant see it getting any better. This was the funniest quick look in a while. The crew is amazing for me. Did the original guy or girl watch the same video. Plenty of goofing off. Plus safe is best for youtube algorithms. If you want gb to succeed then its ok if they do some easier non threatening content. Something clean is ok. preferably family friendly. Subscribers can get the darker stuff.

I'm glad that Abby pointed out the weird pathing that NPCs will do in cutscenes as if they're all like "oh shit I didn't mean to walk into the shot I'm sorry", it's genuinely one of my favorite idiosyncrasies in these games.

Also: you can absolutely start with zero or 1, but after that it really isn't a big deal if you play them out of order. The series has callbacks and callforwards that, while flavorful, are not often of crucial significance.

I'm playing through Yakuza 3 Remastered after having jumped on with Yakuza 0 a few years ago and subsequently playing Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza 6, Yakuza Kiwami 2, and Judgment.

It's kind of fascinating seeing the "roots" of what culminated in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 6 (and their derivatives. You can totally feel how the combat system "evolved" in a positive way, how they substantially beefed up and improved everything over the years. You'd think that I'd be turned off by "going back" but I think because I adore those new games, I am actually enjoying experiencing their roots.

I will say that some of the textures in Yakuza 3 Remastered are downright hard to look at in 2020. Many of them were absolutely not "remastered" at all and just look like smudgy messes, especially against the clean lines and the (generally) good looking faces. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it's very noticeable compared especially to Yakuza 6/Kiwami 2/Judgment.

Oh also, there is a sore lack of arcade games in Yakuza 3 Remastered! Not that I need yet another copy of Virtua Fighter 5 in these games, but... actually go ahead and put a full multiplayer version of VF5 in these games!

A big chunk of my gaming time this year is going to be Yakuza games thanks to this collection and I absolutely cannot wait for Yakuza 7 to come west!

Edit: Oh, also, later in the game there's a scene with Majima in a suit and it is ridiculously hot. Just throwing that out there.

Every time I see comments on a perfectly fine video lamenting that GB isn't "wacky" enough anymore I have to wonder if that person is capable of consuming any content where they aren't being screamed at every 12 seconds.

Abby, as a martial artist of 18 years, I would not recommend seeking out a career in fighting, but some self defense courses, living in NYC, I might. Also I am still working my way through Judgement right now and savoring all it has, but it's nice to see that basically the entire Anthology of Yakuza is available on PS4 whenever/if I am ready to take that dive..

I am absolutely gutted that this quick look ends before they get to drive the taxi.........................

Yakuza 5 is real whacky and I mean that in a side-story sense. Each of the 5 characters gets a main story, which eventually all tie together, but they can all focus on a hefty side story which includes:

• Kiryu's Crazy Taxi and racing service (complete with taxi heat drive moves)
• Taiga's big game hunting adventure aka Quest for the Golden Deer
• Haruka's dance off challenge and constant vigilance to keep fans from dying to her body guards during handshake events
• Tatsuo's Grand Slam-a-thon featuring a very annoyed Daigo

It's a real shame Alex wasn't able to go a few minutes ahead in Yakuza 5. Pretty sure he was about to see the very neat and arcade-e taxi driving.

These games were great when they came out and I will be very happy to go through them all again.

@eccentrix: I'm a little late on replying on this but if you haven't played any of the Yakuza games please Yakuza 0. Just dive right in. It's the earliest game chronologically but is considered the best one by old and new fans. Please start with 0. Please.

If you like it, head into Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2. I'd recommend PC over PS4 (it's always cheap or on sale usually on Steam) although all 3 of them are coming to XBOX One this year on gamepass if you are locked to a single console.

Just keep a reminder that 3, 4, and 5 didn't get the Kiwami treatment (and probably never will) so if the graphics are distracting, just read up on a youtube summary. If you're still thirsty for Yakuza you can swing into Yakuza 6 which is only on the PS4. Yakuza 7 is coming later this year.

@notmordecai: I try to take things chronologically whenever I can, so there was never any question. I even used a guide to watch Buffy and Angel episodes so they lined up in the right order.

Vinny and Abby clowning on Kiryu's apartment is funny to me since it's about the same size or slightly bigger than old apartment in Japan. My fiance (now wife) would stay entire weeks at a time with me as well. Never felt cramped. I just had a futon and mattress on the floor then added a second futon once my fiance started staying over.

The kitchen, toilet room, and bathroom, however, were completely different. The bathroom was huge and was an entire unit. Toilet room was just that. I couldn't sit down and close the door because my knees would stick out so the landlord had installed a curtain you could pull across the hallway. These were both in the small kitchen area. I had a mini-fridge with a toaster oven stacked on top and a microwave on top of that. Ovens don't exist so just had two stove-tops. Really was a tiny place with no viable cooking room.

Loved that apartment. Stay in touch with my landlords and visit them once a year. Lovely people.

Short People by Randy Newman is a great satire of bigotry, but it's a pretty weird song until you catch on. He has a lot of songs with unreliable narrators. I recommend Sail Away.