Yakuza/Like a Dragon Megathread

[Gabrinius]

i won't take kiwami 3. i don't think the PS3 games needs remake (and it will be expensive)

 

[Yousef Yousef]

I only have the plats for Infinite Wealth & Pirate Yakuza because they made them a lot easier to get

I now have 4 as of the time I’m writing this (pirate, Y7, Ygaiden and Y7) and will get infinite wealth and eventually also Kiwami 3 plats. I also re-finished the true final millennium tower about an hour before me posting this. Funny how things with.

 

[Diadu]

I am somewhat looking forward to Kiwami 3 because I really liked 3 but I can't really warm up to some of the visual changes they made to characters such as Hamazaki.

And Sega being a bit greedy with LaD:IW (Selling you difficulties and ng+ together with some dungeon for $20) soured the entire series for me a bit.

I am kinda hoping that we will get a Kiwami 5 somewhere down the line because I want to see what they'd do with Shinada's fighting style (I was surprised that he even got a mention in Kiryu's bucket list)

 

[Nickakyoin]

I played Kiwami 1 and 0 on PS4. I wasn't disliking 0, but Kiwami felt more engaging for some reasons.

Thank you very much, SEGA, for rushing us to get Yakuza 0 vanilla since you're gonna de-list it very soon Steam to replace it with the Director's Cut (haven't heard many positive stuff about it).

 

[here4outbreak]

Thank you very much, SEGA, for rushing us to get Yakuza 0 vanilla since you're gonna de-list it very soon Steam to replace it with the Director's Cut (haven't heard many positive stuff about it).

this and how weird things have seemed with rgg in general lately i wouldnt be surprised if we see more doomposting in the coming months

 

[Dyne]

https://www.gog.com/en/game/yakuza_complete_series

You can get Yakuza 0 through 6 for like $60 bucks right now FYI

 

[Lee__Kanker]

It's funny, when they came out I didnt know anyone who ever played it; PSM italy did praise it at least.
I knew it as that game thats now GTA San Andreas haha
Sega even started losing hope and tried to de-japanify the international release of 3..

That restoration mod being on cdromance is greatly appreciated by the way

How come Now it's almost mainstream? Ive seen 16-17 year olds say they love it and they have 10000 memes

 

[Gabrinius]

It's funny, when they came out I didnt know anyone who ever played it; PSM italy did praise it at least.
I knew it as that game thats now GTA San Andreas haha
Sega even started losing hope and tried to de-japanify the international release of 3..

That restoration mod being on cdromance is greatly appreciated by the way

How come Now it's almost mainstream? Ive seen 16-17 year olds say they love it and they have 10000 memes

when 'baka mitai' bacame a great meme, the game got traction

 

[Nickakyoin]

I'm tempted to momentarily (or play at least 0 and Kiwami 1...and maybe 2) pass from the main Yakuza games to the first Ichiban game since it's a JRPG that fully homages Dragon Quest (and it's so cool that SEGA actually paid rights to make it fully explicit).

I knew it as that game thats now GTA San Andreas haha

Nonsensical dumb comparison since it doesn't have anything to do with that (and you also played the saga? Huh, hard to believe). Not that I'm surprised to read it from you.

How come Now it's almost mainstream? Ive seen 16-17 year olds say they love it and they have 10000 memes

If you have to still adknowledge how influntial memes can make something mainstream (check JoJo, for better or worse) you're really far behind the times.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Nonsensical dumb comparison since it doesn't have anything to do with that (and you also played the saga? Huh, hard to believe). Not that I'm surprised to read it from you.



If you have to still adknowledge how influntial memes can make something mainstream (check JoJo, for better or worse) you're really far behind the times.

Thanks for making it personal haha, I was citing what I thought when the first game came out and I was 9, I know it's not like gta at all

But aside from that, you already DMe'd me angry rants about how much you hate me; I dont like drama, you shouldn't take game opinions like that

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Only real Yakuza's use controllers

 

[here4outbreak]

when 'baka mitai' bacame a great meme, the game got traction

i think another factor is that 7 had just come out around this time so it meant you could either jump on 0 where most people know the meme from or play the new release with the oldheads

thankfully these two are also some of the most solid games in the series so it made getting into the series easy

 

[Gabrinius]

i think another factor is that 7 had just come out around this time so it meant you could either jump on 0 where most people know the meme from or play the new release with the oldheads

thankfully these two are also some of the most solid games in the series so it made getting into the series easy

i agree. zero is a good starting point, specially because it doesn't throw 50 minute cutscenes at you before you can even do something (5 does exactly that - the game is wonderfull, but those ultra-ultra-long cutscenes and dialogues are a great pain).

which one is 7? the rpg one?

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

i agree. zero is a good starting point, specially because it doesn't throw 50 minute cutscenes at you before you can even do something (5 does exactly that - the game is wonderfull, but those ultra-ultra-long cutscenes and dialogues are a great pain).

which one is 7? the rpg one?

Yeah, 7 is the RPG one

 

[BiriCross]

Which Yakuza do I have to play first?
(Never played any Yakuza game)

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Which Yakuza do I have to play first?
(Never played any Yakuza game)

Yakuza 0 would be my recommendation, or Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Both are good starting points, and either can be enjoyed without much prior knowledge of the franchise.

 

[here4outbreak]

Which Yakuza do I have to play first?
(Never played any Yakuza game)

the games are always building from the previous entry in a gameplay sense so its a question of where in that line of iteration and how much context or money you want to have invested but you can always go back for the ones you might have skipped on your first go if it turns out you like the series afterwards

short answer is one of three: 0, 4, or Like a Dragon and going from there and you can read the short overview i have to get an idea of what to expect and do your own research afterwards if it sounds good/interesting

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0 is the earliest in the chronology but was the 10th anniversary game so is generally a smooth experience with satisfying gameplay and story, its a solid and emotional crime drama set in the 80s about identity and misdirection with two storylines running parallel that are paced just right to keep you in suspense
theres very little i think needs to be said about 0 in terms of gameplay specifics because its all good but this is one of the easiest games in the series as money is the driving force behind most of the game mechanics and is given very liberally

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the kiwami sub series remakes the corresponding game so 1 for the original from 2005 and 2 for 2 (duh) theyre serviceable in giving you the story and are fun enough but have some deviations in music choice and cutscenes so if youre a purist that may bother you

kiwami 1/ yakuza (2005) is a mystery set in 2005 of betrayal (loosely) and reuniting family, has a lot of cool moments and is the most noir the series will get
kiwami 1 is where the gameplay is most refined for its combat stances but has a very annoying miniboss that is required to be fought a lot to upgrade a really fun style for lategame
have yet to go through the ps2 original myself in total so have very little advice here other than you can miss side content by progressing the story so take your time if youre interested in that

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kiwami 2/ yakuza 2 is another mystery/drama based around the jingweon massacre from the 80s (in universe) and the repercussions of that event being the responsibility of our cast as they deal with the legacy of their parental figures and their actions
kiwami 2 gameplay is very hit or miss here as its where youll first encounter the dragon engine which makes exploration and gameplay flow incredibly but the combat itself is clunky here as well as progression so eat food for xp and get the charged punch upgrade to deal with blocking enemies
ps2 original is simple and responsive but may be a little too simple and upgrades/side content can be missed here very easily as well

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remastered trilogy ports the ps3 era games (3,4, and 5) to modern systems with new translations and a significant performance boost however there are some very minor gameplay annoyances as a result in 3 and 5

yakuza 3 is a lot more lighthearted with its focus on raising kids in an orphanage but juxtaposed by the political intrigue of national governments and what family can mean to different people
it isnt perfectly executed as the focus between these two halves shifts a little unnaturally and combat can get a little tedious unless you have the optional parry upgrades a bit into the game, but if you skip them then triple square double triangle will work but very slowly

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yakuza 4 is about another event in universe (the ueno seiwa hit of 85) and the different perspectives from that day while also introducing 3 new protagonists with different focuses in gameplay, in japan the game had the subtitle of Successor of the Legend which could mean it was intended to retire kiryu as the main protagonist since we now have 3 new ones but that isn't what happened so it's just something to support my claim that this is also a fine starting point
the 4 playable characters are introduced in their own parts/arcs so you'll need to reobtain certain abilities when finishing as one character and the amount of fun they are to control can vary (though they're mostly good); case in point, saejima/ part 2 is one of the stiffer characters to control and is given one of the harder fights in the game because of your limited upgrades at that point and if you don't like the wooden nature of his movements then, you wont be convinced to by the end either

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yakuza 5 is a personal favorite storywise, but one of the longest given the 5 protagonists with 1 being in a totally different genre, it does however use its time to explore the dreams and aspirations we carry and how it can informs our approaches when the world inevitably pushes back on us
yakuza 5 is long (like very long im not kidding) and like 4 will have you reobtain some abilities when switching characters, saejima/part 2 does have a lengthy and repetitive tutorial (~30 min if reading all the textboxes but quicker if using RB+A to fast forward in these scenes) for a minigame after you get halfway through his section that cannot be avoided, part 3 is two slightly different rhythm games that are easy if you play those kinds of games already but can be tricky otherwise, everyone else though controls beautifully and are fun in their own ways

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6 was marketed as the finale for kiryu so it draws from the series past and its the only one that follows immediately after the previous games ending but is where the status quo of the universe is established and shifted so technically this is the only one that would "matter" from a purely "important things happen here" approach

yakuza 6 is the one most focused on parenting as you take care of a baby (mostly in cutscenes) and is about how our upbringing shapes us in many different ways
where the dragon engine actually debuted and if you played kiwami 2 is also slightly more annoying without the charged punch being available but you get xp faster with food and can use the running dropkick (Y while running) or throw to deal with the crowds of enemies

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yakuza 7/yakuza: like a dragon stars a new cast with some returning members as cameos for the most part and shifts to a turn based rpg, a story of building up from nothing and finding the best in people despite what others might say, the series was called like a dragon in japan and so moving forward the series will use this naming convention
the most dramatic shift in the series, but still very experimental for the studio so it will get annoying just how limited your "builds" can be and you will be starved of resources until reaching sotenbori, there is a difficulty spike here so either save before the story section here and try repeatedly or use the battle tower to grind a bit as from memory the boss here is lvl 50

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like a dragon 8: infinite wealth is supposedly very divisive so your mileage may vary here but returns to the multiple protagonist format from 4,5, and 0 past a certain point, first half follows our new protagonist Ichiban on a quest to reunite with a woman from his father's past in Hawaii but is then caught in the middle of a war for control of the island nation and the many players differing motivations for being here with a focus on Kiryu in the second half, recounting and reflecting his history/past actions while also serving as a more definitive retiring/finale of the character
in keeping with this new tradition of different approaches and perspectives, you're allowed to explore a very large hub/representation of Honolulu, Hawaii where an obscene number of QoL improvements are made and to list a few
-after unlocking a taxi you can now travel to that destination using only the map instead of having to walk to a different taxi even though you could already use your phone in the menu in 7
-you unlock an auto travel function relatively early on and can move around the hub using just it and a waypoint you set
-party banter carries on if it was interrupted by a street encounter
-you can move to alter your attack's AoE and enemies more susceptible to displacement
-jobs/classes have a wider variety of skills although some are still way better than others
-more skills can be transferred between jobs/classes so can mix and match more freely
-mp regen is now given to all classes instead of just two specific ones
-the environment can be used more often to give yourself an advantage if needed
-summons can be active for several turns with their own unique effects

the game is a lot smoother to play but there are a few big problems to look out for, so to list them out
-you can very easily over level and trivialize the game very early on with the dungeon crawler minigame which in itself is very repetitive, iirc the final boss was lvl 50 but you can go to 99
-the dlc practices for this game are very fucked as ng+ is locked behind this as well as a side story and two extra classes totaling $25 across two purchases
-this is the only $70 game in the series and it can be a little hard to justify that amount even as someone who likes this game overall
-the hub is massive and to the point that it can be a detriment as you can run out of things to do very quickly
-upgrading weapons and obtaining materials for those upgrades is tedious but not very tedious i guess

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if you're still a little unsure where to start then id actually recommend going through tehsnakerer's yakuza analysis videos (though very long for the later ones) as he goes super in depth with them and you can just leave once you feel like youve heard enough.

 

[Diadu]

I'm in the camp that goes by release order of the games since the games, as the guy above me pointed out, build on knowledge of previous entries.

So right now I'd go with: Remastered (3,4,5) > 0 > Kiwami 1 > 6 > Kiwami 2 > 7 LaD > LaD IW. That also means, right now, that you start with the most dated game. 3 (and later games) contain summaries of past games, so 3 can bring you up to speed on the basic details and events of 1+2.

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The 0 Director's Cut dropped on the xbox store and it got a "For You" price of 15€ but nty, I'll stick to the basic version. There's also been X|S upgrades for Kiwami 1+2. The upgrade for 2 was free for me and the upgrade for 1 was 2€ so I picked that one up too.

 

[Gabrinius]

These "pay for an update on subtitles" that they launched recently make me think that sega wants to be the new ubisoft/EA

 

[Diadu]

Don't know about PS5 but on xbox they're not even straight upgrades/updates but entirely separate games. Can't use my existing save files from Kiwami 1+2 for the X|S upgrades.

 

[Gabrinius]

Don't know about PS5 but on xbox they're not even straight upgrades/updates but entirely separate games. Can't use my existing save files from Kiwami 1+2 for the X|S upgrades.

yes, separate games too. but the only difference is having a bunch of new subtitle languages. that's what they are charging for.

yakuza is the new fifa