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The Yakuza Series

Posted on 12/13/14 at 7:53 pm
Posted by BulldogXero
Member since Oct 2011
10285 posts
Posted on 12/13/14 at 7:53 pm
LINK

Can't believe I missed hearing about this, but it's not surprising as this series never really caught on in America.

I had an internet friend recommend Yakuza 4 to me last year. I bought it, played it for about 2 hours, but it was really heavy on text and cutscenes. Never got into it.

Gave it another shot this summer and I couldn't stop playing it.

In a lot of ways, it's a spiritual successor to the Shenmue series with an arcade beat-em-up combat system complete with an open world city filled with very quirky Japanese side activities like running hostess clubs and singing karaoke .

Outside of the first game, the games are entirely in Japanese with only English subtitles and can feature some long cutscenes and lots of text boxes. In a sense, it plays like a JRPG mixed with Streets of Rage/Shenmue. The games have a great story if you can get into it.

Has anyone played one of these before?
Posted by DieDaily
West of a white house
Member since Mar 2010
2649 posts
Posted on 12/13/14 at 8:25 pm to
I enjoyed Shenmue 1 & 2 back in the day, so the fact that I've heard this series described as a spiritual successor has me intrigued. However, I've never played any of them. It's on my very long list of games I want to dive into one day.
Posted by BulldogXero
Member since Oct 2011
10285 posts
Posted on 12/13/14 at 8:35 pm to
The first time I played Yakuza 4, I went into it expecting Shenmue 3. I think in large part that's what turned me off of the game as they really are two separate experiences.

Still, if you play Yakuza long enough, you begin to understand how the comparison is valid.
Posted by Mr Gardoki
AL
Member since Apr 2010
27652 posts
Posted on 12/13/14 at 8:39 pm to
Know how to handle that backlog? Have a kid and do like that guy in the article did about having his kid play the classics :lol :
Posted by DieDaily
West of a white house
Member since Mar 2010
2649 posts
Posted on 12/14/14 at 12:55 pm to
quote:

Know how to handle that backlog? Have a kid and do like that guy in the article did about having his kid play the classics
I think that's only going to work several years from now. I don't have many pre-PS2 games on my back log. I've played nearly every game before that generation that I've wanted to.
Posted by Mr Gardoki
AL
Member since Apr 2010
27652 posts
Posted on 12/14/14 at 1:00 pm to
You need to think more long term
Posted by oauron
Birmingham, AL
Member since Sep 2011
14596 posts
Posted on 12/14/14 at 11:21 pm to
I beat the first one not too long ago. Played through it with a friend and had a ton of fun. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun brawler with RPG aspects. Has a lot of content in the game.

Will likely move on to Yakuza 2 soon. Want to catch up before Yakuza 5 hits.
Posted by BulldogXero
Member since Oct 2011
10285 posts
Posted on 12/14/14 at 11:35 pm to
I started with 4 because it was the only one I could find in the store. I've thought about playing Yakuza 3, but the Yakuza 4 re-used a lot of assets from 3.
This post was edited on 12/14/14 at 11:36 pm
Posted by oauron
Birmingham, AL
Member since Sep 2011
14596 posts
Posted on 12/15/14 at 12:17 am to
quote:

I started with 4 because it was the only one I could find in the store. I've thought about playing Yakuza 3, but the Yakuza 4 re-used a lot of assets from 3.


5 seems to have an absrub amount of stuff in it. Hunting and the concert mini games look fun.
Posted by DieDaily
West of a white house
Member since Mar 2010
2649 posts
Posted on 12/15/14 at 8:44 am to
quote:

You need to think more long term
True! I saw that there was talk here of another "2014 TD GOTY" topic and it made me a little sad because I realized I hadn't played the majority of the games that would get talked about.

We should have a topic for backlogged gamers to discuss the best games from 2011.
Posted by DieDaily
West of a white house
Member since Mar 2010
2649 posts
Posted on 12/15/14 at 8:48 am to
quote:

I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun brawler with RPG aspects. Has a lot of content in the game.
I definitely need to check these out, then. Sounds like fun. Also, it's fun getting to play games from Japanese developers for a change, especially one that takes place within that culture / setting.

I'm not huge on JRPG's so there aren't many games that give me a peek into Japan (even a fictional one) the way older games did.
Posted by oauron
Birmingham, AL
Member since Sep 2011
14596 posts
Posted on 12/15/14 at 9:06 am to
quote:

I definitely need to check these out, then. Sounds like fun. Also, it's fun getting to play games from Japanese developers for a change, especially one that takes place within that culture / setting.

I'm not huge on JRPG's so there aren't many games that give me a peek into Japan (even a fictional one) the way older games did.

Well, it gives a good glimpse into some aspects of Japan. If you realize that it's essentially Mafia/crime movie storytelling lens, then you'll be good to go.

One of the things that stands out is the quasi-open world. It's a city that you spend all of your time in. I would describe it like one of the Assassin's Creed cities, but with more to do in it. There's a lot of fun mini games like batting cages, golf, hostess clubs, several casino games, pachinko, fishing, and some arcade games. LINK Quite easy to waste some time.
This post was edited on 12/15/14 at 9:07 am
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