INTRODUCTION (by Yousef)
Ok so… elephant in the room. Why is it me talking? Awesome question, wonderful reader! You see, it was also me who was supposed to publish this piece, but due to a minor case of the stomach flu ouchies, I couldn’t really be online this week so I passed publishing duties to my great friend Az. So a lot of stuff said here is basically post-production notes trying to deal with the 30,000 character limit. It was challenging, but I do think we handled it quite well! I’m quite proud of what we have here so I do hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! Each section will have a signature to signify who’s writing which part so everyone can tell who’s the one speaking. Although, our writing styles contrast each other so beautifully that you likely won’t need the signature anyhows haha!
YAKUZA 1 (Aziamuth)
Not a favorite of mine, but I respect it a lot. An incredibly ambitious game despite its lack of meaningful side content, it’s currently one of the most expensive games to ever be produced in history (being at some point THE most expensive). In a lot of ways, it shows. Let’s dissect this cute little game.
I’d like to start by drawing attention to the story: it’s very straightforward and doesn’t attack you with stupid plot twists. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have plot twists, but the ones that are there are well done and fulfill their purpose. Obviously, I’m not going to talk about them because it’d mean delving into spoiler territory, but rest assured that you’re not going to feel disappointed with them. The story may be a bit “soap opera-y” at times, but that only adds to the charm. To complement the story, Yakuza 1 presents some immaculate vibes that, unfortunately, the remakes can’t replicate. The lighting, the fixed camera sections during non-combat, the character models… all of them mesh together to create a unique and memorable atmosphere, which would be present once again in Yakuza 2. Maybe the PS2 games are cozy experiences? But I digress.
The story may be fine, but characters on the other hand… aren’t. Kiryu is a really good protagonist, Majima is memorable from the beginning, Haruka is cute and easy to empathize with, Yuya is badass and Makoto Date is a wonderful sidekick. But that’s about it. The rest might as well not exist. Nishiki is fine, but you’re never given a real reason as to why he turns evil; Jingu is one of the worst antagonists in the franchise; Kashiwagi is really cool but barely does anything in comparison to later entries and Yumi… by god, you could replace her with a cactus and the story wouldn’t change. The other characters are extremely forgettable or are just evil for the sake of evil. The game is a lot of hit or miss in terms of writing.
The combat… for modern standards, it’s lacking, but for the PS2? Very good! I mean, it’s not God Hand, but it’s completely playable. It sends the foundation for later entries, and it does so quite well. The Rush combo, the sidestep, locking in, blocking… all of the things you can do in, for example, Yakuza 0, are present here (just underdeveloped and with less options).
Last, but not least, the remake: If you’re in just for the story, then you’re in luck, because it offers exactly the same but with added scenes that give context to Nishiki. Now he goes from “I turned bad just because” to a fully realized character, ESPECIALLY if you’ve played Yakuza 0. Also, the combat is really good! A complete upgrade over Yakuza 0, who also had very good combat but a lot of annoying quirks. And that’s it. Aside from that, Yakuza Kiwami is a huge downgrade over the original. The atmosphere is completely lost, the music has been modernized (derogatory) and the bosses are much worse. In fact, the bosses are so bad that they make the combat look bad. The side content is much better than in the original (a lot of substories were missable and extremely simple), but a lot of it is rehashed from Yakuza 0. Some of the new substories are good (such as Date and Kiryu competing over who is hotter), but others are straight up from Yakuza 1 (Kiryu gets scammed 27 times). But, really, the big problem is the bosses.
Second opinion (Yousef)
I think Yakuza 1 is a wonderful little game. It’s truly the start of something special, and I felt it immediately as the game started. I was unfortunately not one of the few who grew up with this game, but I was one of the many disgruntled Kiwami critics who found the experience initially rewarding, but ultimately lackluster, confused and overall feeling just unfinished. The OG PS2 title felt like none of those things, and even the things it lacked were understandable. After all, Yakuza 1 on PS2 was a starter title of a series with an uncertain future, Kiwami 1 was a follow-up to one of the most successful titles under RGG’s repertoire. There were no excuses.
YAKUZA 2 (Aziamuth)
- The gritty atmosphere is back, and better than ever! Now we have TWO cities (technically three), and Sotenbori is absolutely lovely. I really wish I could visit it one day, it just looks so comfy, man.
- The combat is a huge improvement over the first one. In fact, it’s much better than Yakuza 3, simply on virtue of having much higher damage. But besides that, Kiryu gets a lot of new options over Yakuza 1. He also controls much better, it’s really fun playing as him here.
- The side content is better! Substories are much better (some of them) and there are actual minigames! Granted, most of them are gambling games, but it’s better than nothing if you’re bored.
- Music was good in Yakuza 1, and guess what? It’s better in this game! Outlaw’s Lullaby my beloved.
- The game looks AMAZING. Yakuza 1 already looked good, but this one… by golly, a treat. You can feel it particularly on an emulator, by upscaling. Kiryu is more expressive than ever (in fact it’s probably the most expressive he is in the whole franchise).
Despite the fact that I don’t like this game, I listed quite a lot of positives, didn’t I? Well, this is because all of it pales in comparison to one (or even two) tiny issues: the story and characters. If there’s something I’ll never get in life is why the story is so well-liked. I’ll admit that it starts off quite fine: the premise is intriguing, with the Tojo Clan missing a chairman after the death of Terada. Kiryu believes that Daigo Dojima, the son of the Sohei Dojima, is ideal for the role of chairman due to his natural charisma. Things ensue and they move to Sotenbori, where pivotal characters Ryuji Goda and Kaoru Sayama are introduced. Kaoru Sayama, in particular, has an AMAZING introductory scene, and Ryuji Goda is presented as a guy as equally tough as Kiryu. And then… a war between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance? Damn, this looks good!
And then the story advances and it all goes down the shitter. New characters (which may I add are some of the most annoying and unlikeable in the whole franchise) are introduced, the previously introduced ones get worse as the story progresses and Kiryu goes through some terrible character assassination. And as the story progresses, more and more stupid plot twists get introduced. Near the end of the game, it’s a race to see how stupid things can get. Guys you thought were dead are alive, identities are unveiled constantly, this person is related to this person and much, much more. I hate it, it’s unserious but in a way that annoys me. By the end of the game, I hated Kaoru Sayama so much that I was glad she was gone in Yakuza 3.
I’ll keep it simple for the remake: it has the same problems as the second one, but at least it has fun side content so you can distract yourself from the horrible story. Also features horrid lighting, ESPECIALLY during the night. And is combat better or worse? Hard to tell…
Second opinion (Yousef)
YAKUZA 3 (Yousef)
It’s a real challenge to discuss Yakuza 3, my favorite Yakuza. Some things cannot be put into words and Yakuza 3 is a true testament to that. Yakuza 3 is always guaranteed to be the Yakuza I have the most joyous amount of time returning to. To outline why this is the case, we need to address what I think, in my eyes, makes a perfect Yakuza, and a perfect sandbox as a whole.
I believe that a great sandbox, within reason, must do its best to make all of its primary elements interact in harmony, without one overshadowing the other and without any of them underperforming. Most people, myself included, agree those elements in a Yakuza are the main story, substories and main games. Funnily enough, we can kinda ignore minigames as they’ve never been done differently and likely never will, so we can fixate on the other two, and we can further fixate on the substories as 3 already has a phenomenal story just like 4 and 5, so that leaves us with the substories and for my money, they’re some of the best in the whole series.
Now it’s tough to ignore the herculean 119 substory count, luckily however it’s a deceptive number as a lot of them are three-parters, but what really matters is how naturally integrated they are into the game. For instance, a fantastic game like Yakuza 5 has such a satisfyingly lengthy storyline that the side distractions really are just that, (albeit great) distractions. But in the case of 3, the differences between a main story only run and one that includes substories is night and day as you start to see so many assets to the game locker behind side content that truly enrich the experience. It helps that 3 is also a really relaxing game to play in general, the Yakuza series is simply ripe for rural settings like Okinawa! And who doesn’t love Hawaiian shirts?
Second opinion (Aziamuth)
YAKUZA 4 (Yousef)
Yakuza 4, my other favorite, continues all the good qualities of 3 while providing a better story and better side content. In many ways, it’s a more complete Yakuza 3, but the absence of Okinawa’s magic is just enough to detract it from being my favorite, positives and all.
Improving on what was already there in 3, Yakuza 4 sees us explore different facets of both Kamorucho and the cast via side quests, and this time they ARE actual side quests, as Tanimura, one of the new guards, has to make several arrests before reaching the truth behind his father’s disappearance, creating an experience that completely transforms once you do all the side stuff. The hidden storylines are great, and are quite thematic, as seen in Saejima’s bizarre little Pokémon clone. You see, Saejima always wanted to be a teacher, so it’s quite nice seeing him realize his dream in sims form.
Kiryu’s substories are what also help everything come full circle, as you not only reunite with a lot of past friends from the Y3 subs, creating a cute bit of continuity, but you see his growth as a protagonist with how visibly unphased he is by the gang threats, claiming he’s seen it all… because he did! So he has earned his right to be arrogant, as he is quite seasoned as is.
This isn’t even touching on the nail-biting narrative of 4. Who doesn’t love a good prison and cop drama? The thrill of Saejima escaping the prison, fighting Kiryu, Tanimura’s entire arc and Akiyama as a whole easily makes this the most thrilling Yakuza drama, with Mine’s arc from 3 being yet again, the reason 3 edges out 4 as being my favorite.
I still can’t put into words how much 3 and 4 mean to me. I can mention every tiny little thing but we have a character limit to work with. Just reassured that I’m forever a Y3-4 defender in my heart of hearts.
Second opinion (Aziamuth)
YAKUZA 5 (Aziamuth)
I’m not going to write everything I think about the game because I have too much to say, so I’ll keep it relatively simple.
Yakuza 5 is me, and I am Yakuza 5. There’s no one debating this. I beat this game a total of 5 times, between PS3 and the PC remaster. I have platinumed it twice. I wrote a guide in Spanish with close to 400 pages. I have lots of knowledge that nobody except CyricZ and some Japanese guys I don’t know about can surpass. When I say I love this game, I mean it like if it was my child. Yakuza 5 was there for me when nobody else was (literally, when I first played this game it was the lowest point of my life, having no friends and barely going outside). I wouldn’t say it saved me, but it definitely was there when I needed it.
Of course, all of this is barely logical because Yakuza 5 is a deeply flawed game with a lot of heart, albeit in a different way like, for example, Yakuza 3. Yakuza 5 is about dreaming big, and it shows in every single aspect of the game. The combat is the best the franchise has been (at least when the game was released), setting up the basics for Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. At times, it even feels better than those games. FIVE playable characters in FIVE cities. Lots and lots of minigames. A crap ton of Heat actions. Unique side stories for each character (except Akiyama because ???). A story that’s incredibly ambitious but can’t find a way to properly conclude it. Lots and lots of hype moments. An absurdly bloated completion list. Hidden content that doesn’t even belong in the completion list. Hell, they even made a new engine for this game, which they would later reuse in Ishin, 0 and Kiwami! These are all of the ingredients that mesh together to make one of the biggest games humanity has ever seen. Dream big, child. Dream big…
Yakuza 5 is incredibly divisive because of how much content it has and because of its hit-or-miss story. And it’s completely understandable, even as the biggest stan of the game:
- Kiryu’s story is the most consistent and the one everyone agrees is the best.
- Saejima’s story is plagued by poor pacing and the fact that you don’t reach his city until the end of his part (all of it for the city to suck ass).
- Haruka’s story is alright, but unfortunately you have to play as Haruka, which means no fighting.
- Akiyama’s story is shared with Haruka, and his part is incredibly charismatic, albeit short.
- Shinada’s story is good but it’s so disconnected from the main story that it feels unnecessary.
- The finale is, unfortunately, not well crafted. The creators didn’t know how to end it all properly, and you don’t have to look further than the final boss.
One final note: the music is a masterpiece. Yakuza usually has great music, but have you seen those battle themes? Not a single miss. I can’t even pick a favorite because it’s all good. I want to kiss the composer.
Second opinion (Yousef)
When me and Aziamuth were deciding who’s gonna tackle which games in the “main opinion” sections, I volunteered to drop Yakuza 5 because not only was I aware of how important the game was to him and how it would be a disservice to not let a completionist offer his piece, but because writing about Yakuza 5 for me would be a Herculean task. It’s why this article has been in the works for almost two months,it’s really hard to find the right words to describe games that are really important to me, and Yakuza 5 is no exception!
This “small opinion” section alone will already have me saying a lot, never mind the fact that Y5 is an ocean of discourse all on its own! While I consider 3 and 4 to be my favorites (hence why I wanted those two for me haha), 5 is an easy close third. There’s a lot to love about 5, and, here’s a shocking opinion, that includes the story! Although maybe my wild opinions don’t shock people anymore hehe. In any case, I do adore this game to death. Condensing all of it to a few paragraphs is no small feat, but I basically love the music, combat, characters, substories, mini-games, side-stories, and total adoration. Oh, I’ll go a step further. I love the final boss, I like Akiyama’s story in 5, I love Shinada (and I’m perfectly ok with him not coming back!), I love Saejima, Baba, Majima, NOT Haruka, Kiryu, basically everything!
YAKUZA 6 (Yousef)
Alright, we arrive at our final game for today. Frankly, I didn’t really plan for things to be this way, but it’s poetic, considering 6 in itself is a poster child for unexpected endings. We’ve a lot to say about Yakuza 6. However, the reason I picked it as one of my three “main” games to discuss has almost nothing to do with its quality as a game or how I feel about it as a finale, but because I felt I could offer a more optimistic perspective about such a divisive title.
For many years… wait, it’s been that long since 6 was out? Geez, haha! Well, in any case, I was one of critics of 6 upon its initial outing. Not in advance, mind you, since I was sincerely looking forward to playing it, but only after the fact had I realized how much of a missed opportunity it was to not just have this as a transitional title, rather than a finale.
It feels so obvious in hindsight too. 6 works perfectly fine as a transitional point to 7, then to 8 and so on. Any semblance of this game’s original intent to be the finale has been long lost, making the game feel more like a product of its time, and I’m using the proper definition of the term here!
But I recognize it’s also not completely fair to judge 6 as something it wasn’t originally meant to be but you needn’t worry here, because while I was trying to offer a positive point of view, you should rest assured knowing that it’s not really that amazing as a regular sequel either! And that the conversation ends surprisingly fast, so discussing it as a finale is a more fruitful discourse, but I do have words of consolation to offer there as well.
Now, it needs to be noted that we’ve been through this song and dance already. Kiryu’s story almost ended 6 different times already. Yakuza 1 was gonna be the last Yakuza if it ended up being a commercial failure, Yakuza 2 quite literally went out on a bang, Yakuza 3 had Kiryu get stabbed, Yakuza 4 went for a “passing of the torch”, Yakuza 5 also tried killing Kiryu for the third time and Yakuza 0, despite being a prequel, ironically felt like it wanted to have the last word. So all in all, we can’t fault 6 for trying to finally put an end to it all, but we can definitely fault it for being a theoretically worse finale than all aforementioned six entries.
Did I say I was gonna offer words of consolation? Oh yeah, I did. Luckily, despite being both an unimpressive “transitional game” and an unimpressive “finale”, Yakuza 6 is a mildly impressive game… kinda.
I do have to agree Onomichi is a fantastic setting. Almost no doubt. Yakuza would greatly benefit from having more rural towns in general. It’s been nothing but urban areas and cities infamous for being tourist traps, so a small rural village would feel more in-line with the series’s sincere nature.
But that’s potatoes, patatoes because at the day, a Yakuza game is only as good as its content. And luckily, Yakuza 6… is sorta, kinda, mildly good! … I think. I have the platinum trophy for Yakuza 6, so you have the opinions of two Yakuza completionists here, but Yakuza 6 is uhh… ok-ish at best? It may sound like I’m drawing straws here, ‘cause that’s kinda the case. Yakuza 6, while not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, simply gives me too little to work with. It’s not even like I’m going through the motions either, because Yakuza 6 has a shocking amount of new stuff and one gigantic QoL update; voiced substories, baby!
Do not underestimate how big the last one is, because we never see it done in the series… ever again. Not partially voiced either, they’re fully voiced from beginning to end and I want all readers to just take a moment to let this realization sink in. Because I do want to make it clear this is a very good thing and it would be actually unfair to downplay its importance, at least in my eyes. The unfortunate common response against this is that it potentially limits the creativity of the writers. While that’s a valid concern, have you ever taken a moment to play any modern Yakuza substory? More specifically from 7 and 8, then you’d see how it’s probably a positive to “limit” the “creativity” (or lack thereof) of modern RGG substory writers.
So moving on, how’s the actual quality of 6’s substories? They’re… fine? Better than 7 and 8… but nothing to write home about. Ah, what else did 6 have? Oh yeah, shark hunting, baseball team management, a celebrity gym cameo (yes, the gym itself is a celebrity), another celebrity cameo this time from a Darts player, another celeb who happens to own the batting center and so on. Now I for one do find the celeb cameos in Yakuza to be fun to spot. Easy to mock, but still really fun. The new mini-games though? Also nothing special.
Ah wait this was meant to have nice things to say about 6, well you can’t fault a writer working on a piece for two months. Opinions can change on a dime. Luckily, the bar talk mini-game was more than great. It was special… -ish.
I think I’ll stop here. I feel the need to mercy-kill this section. Yakuza 6 doesn’t deserve this so I’ll get to the point. I was a big 6 hater back in the day, while I evidently haven’t switched sides and likely never will, I do appreciate my platinum run greatly softening my opinions on 6. Simply put, I no longer dislike 6. I mock it more so out of love. I was greatly happy how my feelings changed for the better, and I began to appreciate Yakuza 6 for what it really is. It’s got a lot to celebrate about it, and I think it’s time to celebrate those positives.
Second opinion (Aziamuth)
I appreciate Yakuza 6 for what it is. It feels like a spiritual sequel to Yakuza 3 in a lot of ways, namely characters, vibes and somewhat episodic structure. Yakuza 6, however, is much more ambitious in terms of story, and some characters are either more realized or are executed differently. The biggest example of this is Nagumo, as he plays a similar role to Rikiya, and although he is not as lovable, he is still a great sidekick to Kiryu. Someya at times feels similar to Mine despite the fact that they are so different, but Someya manages to be much more charismatic and better written.
Moving from characters, Onomichi is a vibe on par with Okinawa, but it doesn’t feel as good. Whether it’s because the atmosphere is not as good or because the content is so scarce (which is interesting because you spend more time in Onomichi than in Kamurocho), I can’t really tell, but it feels good being in a more rural area for a change. As for the story… it’s fine! I don’t particularly care about the ending, but I do like events that unfold and I particularly like the characters involved save for the main antagonists. It’s kind of like Yakuza 1 where it’s well rounded and nothing more.
I guess I should talk a bit about the gameplay: combat is bad but you can cheese it with the dropkick; the experience system is bad; substories are fine (some of them are quite well written and I like that they are completely voiced) and minigames are scarce and not very interesting. At least there is hanafuda.
One thing I do praise the game for: you can face Amon without having to do all of the substories. And, let me tell you, this Amon is brutal and ruthless.
CONCLUSION (Yousef)
Right, I really hope you enjoyed this collab between me and Az. We love talking about Yakuza, and we do hope to talk about it more! So it’s probably another happy accident we left out 0 and Kuruhyou. Believe us, we did want to include it but it became challenging to do so while also meeting the character limit. It was simply a no-go. But don’t fret! Me and Az love Yakuza so much that you should see this as the beginning, not the end!On that note, another note… unfortunately, my long promised “life-journaling” article that I planned for my b-day could not come to fruition. I was gonna discuss my love for dark souls, the concept of fun and me getting into WRPGs for the first time. One of those things is not like the others! So yeah, a tragic shame it’s going into the bin due to my illnesses, but that’s life. My only true wish right now is to eat again. My stomach flu rejects all foods that go into my tummy, spooky! But I’ll be fine. Once I’m well, I’ll be happy to be alive at all.
Sayonara!
