Henry Spencer wrote: Yeah 0 definitely has my favourite music in the series. Top to bottom it's great all around, think it's Hidenori Shoji's best work next to 3 (joint favourite OST for the series). I enjoy a couple of the tunes from Kenshin as well.
Biggest weakness I've noticed with Kiwami vs. 0 is the side quests - think 0 has the best collection of subquests in the series, whereas Kiwami so far might have the weakest in comparison (since it's including a lot of the ones from OG 1 so it's outdated in comparison). Still enjoying the game greatly. Really need to go back to 5 and finish it before 6 comes out!
Indeed! I'll write about 6 below...
Your Boy Leroy wrote: The soundtracks from 0 and 2 are my favorites, although it was really only the licensed tracks from Crazy Ken Band for 2 that I really dug. I'm so glad that those tracks remained intact with the US release.
I'm playing through Kiwami right now. I beat the Japanese version when it came out last year, and I was really just kinda "eh..." on it, despite the gameplay and engine being the identical to 0. I guess I never really liked the original Yakuza. I remember being so pumped for it when it was first being released on PS2 back in like, 2005. But when I played it, I thought the combat was terrible. The voice-acting was bad, despite having Hollywood "celebrities doing the dubbing, and the combat mechanics didn't get serviceable until Yakuza 2.
With Kiwami, all of that is fixed. I'm still not a fan of the story, but the new parts about Nishiki's story are great. My biggest gripe though, would have to be the cutscenes. The graphics are just as good as they were in 0, but the developers didn't bother to redo any of the cutscenes (aside from the ones that weren't in the original Yakuza). What you get are these fantastic character models with 2005 PS2 animation. I never thought that the animation in any of the Yakuza series' cutscenes were bad, but maaan...seeing the original animation now with these newer models just hurts and makes Kiwami seem like it was developed and released before 0 (which it kinda was, technically).
The Majima Everywhere System is fun, but it makes no Goddamn sense in relation to the narrative. I get it, Majima is an awesome character, and after being such a major part of Yakuza 0's story, it's understandable that the developers would want to include him more in Kiwami. But Christ, his impact as a character is incredibly diminished by having him pop up so randomly. Not to mention that his behavior in the cutscenes and his behavior in practically
everything else (which wasn't part of the original Yakuza) almost contradicts each other. I always remembered Majima being more of an enemy than a friend to Kiryu in the original, although he wasn't a straight-up villain either. This was something that gradually evolved into the odd friendship seen between the two characters from Yakuza 2 and on. That's why they're relationship in the original was important, as this was the starting point for their growth. In Kiwami though, he's like Kiryu's best friend from the beginning. What a shame
All that being said though, I'm really enjoying my playthrough of Kiwami much more this time than my first time. It's probably because I can understand everything now, but still, it feels like a wasted opportunity. Even for a "budget series" such as this.
Get so much of what you're saying; 1 is still one of my main favourites in the series, mainly because of soundtrack, story and the feels (plus, Eliza Dushku's voice makes Yumi MUCH sexuer, IMO ;)) and I agree that Majima Everywhere is too much; its an awesome mechanic, no doubt, but I think it would've been better left for another entry in the series.
Slot car racing was a nice addition, though it is maddeningly frustrating in Japanese. Mushi King is also an awesome addition and it isn't the broken mess that it was in 0.
Just wanted to say that I started 6 over the weekend (my PS4 FINALLY came in) and, while I'm still in the first chapter, I've done a TON of things thus far, relative to the first chapter in earlier entries (finished all the hostesses in Kamurocho, for example and they are significantly easier this time), further proven by the fact that I've gotten quite a few trophies at this point.
That tells me that the midgame will be all about story and character development/area exploration (Hiroshima), which according to (some of) the hardcore guys on gfaqs, is not good (but it doesn't seem like that so far), but since stories affect us and change our perception so much, I guess its down to the individual (see my comments on 2 and 4, compared to everyone else's lol); for years I've been hoping for a story that involves the Chinese mafia/Triads in some respect (big Lau ka Long fan here!) for more than a chapter or 2 and 6 FINALLY incorporates this.
Combat is good, despite many people crapping on it (its seriously ok, I don't see why people were up in arms) and the graphics are lovely, though I think they'll be even better in the upcoming titles.
Soundtrack is boss too, so far.
Exciting times are ahead!