Yakuza series

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby myshtuff » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:15 pm

OL wrote: Still, that Okinawa atmosphere.


That's actually why I loved 3. I worked in Okinawa for 6 months during college and they nailed that atmosphere. They even got some of the locations modeled perfectly off the real places. I couldn't believe it.
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby Truck_1_0_1_ » Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:13 am

south carmain wrote: Am I the only one that thinks that Yakuza 3 is just okey?


Its my favourite title and 2nd overall in the series (after 5, ahead of 0), IMO.

MyShtuff is correct in the locations parts; Kokusai-Dori is almost identical to how it is in game, it just felt amazing when I was there last year.

I think it has one of the best stories in the series, with memorable and AWESOME characters (there's a reason why the antagonists from that title were the highest voted on in the character election, amongst antagonists).

People bash it because of the cut content, but who cares? Am I seriously the only person wo has EVER played the series that greatly detests the hostesses stuff? I thought cutting all that out and just going on dates was super for the pacing, saved in-game money and just made for a less-detracting experience.

An incredible title from top to bottom :D
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby Your Boy Leroy » Fri Oct 06, 2017 3:09 pm

Yakuza 3 holds a special place in my heart, as it was the reason I bought a PS3. Definitely not my favorite, but it's a memorable one for me.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby OL » Sat Oct 07, 2017 12:31 am

Truck_1_0_1_ wrote:People bash it because of the cut content, but who cares? Am I seriously the only person wo has EVER played the series that greatly detests the hostesses stuff? I thought cutting all that out and just going on dates was super for the pacing, saved in-game money and just made for a less-detracting experience.


No, you're right, the hostess stuff has never struck me as terribly compelling either. I almost always skip right past it. Only tried delving into it once, in Y2 I think. It doesn't seem like something Kazuma, as a character, would actually bother with, so it's always felt out-of-place and pointless.
But the cut content has nothing at all to do with why I personally place Y3 kind of low when ranking the series. It's not a bad game in the least; in fact, I actually consider the early Okinawa sections to be the closest any game has ever gotten to a genuinely Shenmue-esque atmosphere. Not in terms of literal aesthetics, obviously, but rather in the sort of laid-back, leisurely progression through a small-town story that it has. A lot of people complained that it was too slow in the beginning, but I quite liked that myself.
But, while pretty much every single other title in the series has a narrative that feels grand and affecting to the entire Yakuza franchise, Y3 is the only one that strike me as feeling much smaller and less-important than any of the others. You could remove it from the series entirely, and you wouldn't really be missing anything necessary to the other games. It doesn't even do anything new in regards to gameplay, really, outside of removing the fixed camera during exploration (which Kenzan did previously anyway, right?).
It's a good game regardless but, cut content aside, I still think it makes total sense why it tends to rank a little lower among fans.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:22 am

I think cutting content from the game was pointless and a bit stupid but I'll agree that it didn't seem to change the experience for me. I never could be bothered with the hostess clubs either, except for Majima's sidestory in 0. Apparently they cut some substories too but the game has so many that it really didn't make the game feel any less complete. My main issue with Yakuza 3 was that the story just felt low quality to me. That and I played it after 4 so it really felt dated in comparison.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:16 pm

Kiwami 2 is looking great in 6's engine. definitely looking forward to playing through this.
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby OL » Sun Oct 08, 2017 9:55 am

Game does look cool... but am I the only one that's actually put off by the way they're shoehorning Majima into everything now?
I was saying it not too long ago, but it bears repeating: too much Majima is a bad thing. He was so memorable in the first two games precisely because his presence was minimal. He was the cool, crazy, unpredictable badass, so when he shows up at various few-and-far-between points, those points absolutely stick with you. If he's constantly popping up, his appearances mean less and less. Plus, the atmosphere will take a goddamn nosedive. I haven't played through Kiwami yet, but I can only imagine that the "Majima everywhere" system is going to completely neuter the tension of the battling cages segment when I do. In the original PS2 version, it was tense and dark and compelling because you didn't know what this psycho would do, and even if I've seen the story before, that atmosphere will still remain. But if you have Majima jumping out of trashcans and showing up in goofy costumes for the whole game up to that point, it's just gonna seem like a joke.
So, honestly, I really don't want to play as Majima in Kiwami 2. I wish that kind of thing was just left out.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:07 am

It doesn't bother me personally. I see the Kiwami series as light reboots made as sequels to 0 rather than remakes of the first 2 games, so i picture Majima as a main character in that context.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby OL » Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:00 pm

That's actually a really interesting perspective. I mean, I'll probably still feel the way I do about it just because I am already so familiar with the series (and these two particular games), but that's still a really respectable way of looking at it.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:46 pm

OL wrote: That's actually a really interesting perspective. I mean, I'll probably still feel the way I do about it just because I am already so familiar with the series (and these two particular games), but that's still a really respectable way of looking at it.

It probably helps that I never played through the first Yakuza game and only through Yakuza 2 once nearly a decade ago.

on an unrelated not I was watching Yakuza 5 videos and all I could think of was that I was happy no one surprised me playing through Haruka's section. I can't imagine trying to get someone to believe I'm playing a manly game about the Japanese mafia after seeing the gameplay in the following video.
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby OL » Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:56 pm

^^Good god, that killed the fuck out of my playthrough back when Y5 came out.
I'm getting the itch to go back and finally finish the damn game, since I had gotten to the point of being able to play as Akiyama, and technically I guess I can just skip the Jpop bullshit at that point.... but it's a no-win situation.
I can finish Haruka's stuff to satisfy the completionist in me, but end up feeling disgusted with myself in the process; or I can skip it, and live with the fact that I had to leave out a big chunk of the game in order to progress.
I hate you so much Haruka.
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:36 am

I did every single thing you could do with Haruka since I wanted to platinum the game (which I gave up on when I realised you had to do absolutely everything the game had to offer including every heat move, use every weapon and other menial bullshit which would probably add 50 hours of pure grind) and I can barely remember any of it so you're probably not missing out on much. Shinada's section is pretty fun too so it's worth just skipping Haruka and her sunday sitcom tier drama.

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby Truck_1_0_1_ » Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:30 am

OL wrote:
Truck_1_0_1_ wrote:People bash it because of the cut content, but who cares? Am I seriously the only person wo has EVER played the series that greatly detests the hostesses stuff? I thought cutting all that out and just going on dates was super for the pacing, saved in-game money and just made for a less-detracting experience.


No, you're right, the hostess stuff has never struck me as terribly compelling either. I almost always skip right past it. Only tried delving into it once, in Y2 I think. It doesn't seem like something Kazuma, as a character, would actually bother with, so it's always felt out-of-place and pointless.
But the cut content has nothing at all to do with why I personally place Y3 kind of low when ranking the series. It's not a bad game in the least; in fact, I actually consider the early Okinawa sections to be the closest any game has ever gotten to a genuinely Shenmue-esque atmosphere. Not in terms of literal aesthetics, obviously, but rather in the sort of laid-back, leisurely progression through a small-town story that it has. A lot of people complained that it was too slow in the beginning, but I quite liked that myself.
But, while pretty much every single other title in the series has a narrative that feels grand and affecting to the entire Yakuza franchise, Y3 is the only one that strike me as feeling much smaller and less-important than any of the others. You could remove it from the series entirely, and you wouldn't really be missing anything necessary to the other games. It doesn't even do anything new in regards to gameplay, really, outside of removing the fixed camera during exploration (which Kenzan did previously anyway, right?).
It's a good game regardless but, cut content aside, I still think it makes total sense why it tends to rank a little lower among fans.


south carmain wrote:I think cutting content from the game was pointless and a bit stupid but I'll agree that it didn't seem to change the experience for me. I never could be bothered with the hostess clubs either, except for Majima's sidestory in 0. Apparently they cut some substories too but the game has so many that it really didn't make the game feel any less complete. My main issue with Yakuza 3 was that the story just felt low quality to me. That and I played it after 4 so it really felt dated in comparison.


Thank you guys, for agreeing with me lol.

See, I feel that 3's story is indeed a big, grand thing, as it opens up Kiryu's life and introduces the Okinawa side of things, not to mention that with Daigo in the hospital, clinging to life, the Tojo Clan is up for grabs.

I love it lol.

OL wrote:Game does look cool... but am I the only one that's actually put off by the way they're shoehorning Majima into everything now?
I was saying it not too long ago, but it bears repeating: too much Majima is a bad thing. He was so memorable in the first two games precisely because his presence was minimal. He was the cool, crazy, unpredictable badass, so when he shows up at various few-and-far-between points, those points absolutely stick with you. If he's constantly popping up, his appearances mean less and less. Plus, the atmosphere will take a goddamn nosedive. I haven't played through Kiwami yet, but I can only imagine that the "Majima everywhere" system is going to completely neuter the tension of the battling cages segment when I do. In the original PS2 version, it was tense and dark and compelling because you didn't know what this psycho would do, and even if I've seen the story before, that atmosphere will still remain. But if you have Majima jumping out of trashcans and showing up in goofy costumes for the whole game up to that point, it's just gonna seem like a joke.
So, honestly, I really don't want to play as Majima in Kiwami 2. I wish that kind of thing was just left out.


100% in agreement. 100%.

Everyone loves Majima (I have his eyepatch as part of my Sega leg tattoo), but I too wish he wasn't put as a playable character; too much of him is annoying and this came to a head in Kiwami.

People talk about how awesome he is in 0, but really, aside from fight styles, the gameplay is identical to playing as Kiryu, so what's the point?

Hopefully with Ichiban, he goes back to being a guy in the shadows or he is removed from the game completely; give us a break.

south carmain wrote:I did every single thing you could do with Haruka since I wanted to platinum the game (which I gave up on when I realised you had to do absolutely everything the game had to offer including every heat move, use every weapon and other menial bullshit which would probably add 50 hours of pure grind) and I can barely remember any of it so you're probably not missing out on much. Shinada's section is pretty fun too so it's worth just skipping Haruka and her sunday sitcom tier drama.


lol I lterally JUST WROTE THIS on gfaqs, to a guy arguing that RGG6 is stripped down and he's never even played the game.

With the evolution of the series in 6, I hope this is indeed the norm instead of the outlier, because many of us are just sick and tired of the constant grinding and crap; we have lives to live and we need time to live life, go to work, etc. and I know that I don't want to spend 3 months on a game, in order to complete certain things.

EDIT*: I will say, it was cool until 5, but then Ishin! started with this grinding, then 0, its become too much.
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Re: Yakuza series

Postby Crimson Ryan » Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:32 pm

Image

Achieved this a few days ago but only feel like gloating about it now. How's everyone else liking the game?

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Re: Yakuza series

Postby south carmain » Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:01 pm

Crimson Ryan wrote: Image

Achieved this a few days ago but only feel like gloating about it now. How's everyone else liking the game?

Where's the 0 trophy?

Haven't played Kiwami yet. PS4 still broke unfortunately.
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