Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (Yakuza, Judgment, Binary Domain + more!) Discussion Thread

[J_C]

how hyped should I be for Yakuza 0 if I'm expecting this to be like Sleeping Dogs?

I don't think they are directly comparable. Both have very good melee systems, maybe Yakuza's is even more robust. On the other hand, Sleeping Dogs is more open, you have a whole city to travel around, like in GTA, meanwhile Yakuza takes place in only one district IIRC. But that district is quite large, and VERY detailed, and you have so many things to do.

I would say keep your hype at a managable level, but stay interested, because both games offer great far-eastern atmosphere and combat.

 

[Tehdagah]

how hyped should I be for Yakuza 0 if I'm expecting this to be like Sleeping Dogs?

Did you play an Yakuza game before? You should play 2-3 of them and stop, because they are all pretty much the same thing.

 

[Rahdulan]

how hyped should I be for Yakuza 0 if I'm expecting this to be like Sleeping Dogs?

You could classify Sleeping Dogs as Chinese GTA while claiming Yakuza was Japanese GTA wouldn't exactly be accurate. It's essentially a beat 'em up with RPG elements draped in Japanese TV crime drama cloth. Like J_C said above the play area(s) are smaller but denser, and what Tehdagah above said is also true but seeing how these locations change from game to game as time passes is one of the appeals. I don't know if Y0 changed what I've talked about but that's the general story of 1 through 5. It's also a very story-centric series... that also generate many new whiskey lovers with its classy product placement.

 

[Ivan]

how hyped should I be for Yakuza 0 if I'm expecting this to be like Sleeping Dogs?

Did you play an Yakuza game before? You should play 2-3 of them and stop, because they are all pretty much the same thing.

no, I've been waiting for them to be ported to PC. the time has come, and so have I

 

[Deflowerer]

True there, this series has cost me now hundreds of euros...

of expensive whiskey.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

For me it costs me fookin money when it gives me the irresistable urge to eat fine Japanese or Korean food.

I don't know if Y0 changed what I've talked about

In regards to seeing the changes in Kamurocho, with Yakuza 0 the way the passage of time being reflected in each game is very notable because in Zero there are blocks that are completely replaced by the time on Yakuza 1/Kiwami, with Millenium Tower being built on top of the old shopping mall and the Empty Lot and the old Little Asia having apparently been torn down and replaced with modern housing blocks.

Come Yakuza 7, we should be seeing how Champion District has been renovated and later on what giant construction is taking place on top of West Park since those were going on in Yakuza 6.


Also another hype detail that really should be pointed out to tho is that the series main protagonist Kiryu is a strong contender for manliest manly man in games.

 

[Deflowerer]

I thought the West Park mall was already finished by Y5, albeit inaccessible. You could access it in Dead Souls though.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Odds are the limited development cycles just meant a simple "okay, we need to cut something, so we might as well cut things that we don't need and which aren't familiar to the new fanbase." A second, bigger mall would probably have been too much when they pump these out once a year.

That's another thing that's really noteworthy about the series: They make at least one Yakuza game every year, but this doesn't feel at all like a soulless franchise like every sports brand game series ever or Assassin's Creed like that, the Yakuza games really have this sense of passion and attention to detail on part of the team that not only do they feel like much bigger budget games than they are with vastly longer development cycles than they really do.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Yeah, Yakuza games are really good for its detailed world and you can really feel the passion behind it.

Having limited scope actually helps a lot because you ends up with each location being fairly unique compared to AAA western open world games which are just a bunch of checklists.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Not to mention due to the focus put into the single area, Kamurocho as a location feels much more real and lived in. Even the streets without anything on them for the player are full of all kinds of advertisements, food stalls, storefronts, and people hawking for passersby to visit the establishments there. And more importantly, because of this smaller area of focus, you can at times even forget there exists a fast travel option because you genuinely don't need it, so you actually pay attention to the detail put in. Something like an Assassin's Creed game is so vast and empty you simply pass every single detail they were assed to put in because all of it is rendered meaningless by the drowning empty space.

EDIT: Also an important thing is that because the basic brawler gameplay is so satisfying and you have such an arsenal of moves to try out and perfect (even if Tiger Drop is so massively overpowered) that the mooks you deign to fight when you aren't just looking for cash (or pocket change in Zero since it has a running theme of absolutely decadent waste of money, hence why leveling up is done by essentially burning billions of yen instead of XP like normal) serve as practise or simply for the satisfaction of the various awesomely brutal Heat moves you have an even bigger arsenal of. There is a certain glee with the whole scenario of "do these mooks really think it's a good idea to fuck with this guy" that just doesn't get old, or with Kiryu armlocking a goon using only chopsticks to grab their middle finger mid-punch.

 

[Deflowerer]

I think I'm nearing the end of Yakuza 6 plot-wise, and unless they have some ridiculous twists in store, seems to be shaping up as one of the best stories in the series imho post-Yakuza 2 (chronologically). As much as it was cool to play with multiple characters in 4 and 5, I think the overall pacing is significantly aided by just having a single character, or two, like in Zero.

Combat-wise crowd combat is significantly improved, but yeah, one-on-one fights get too samey due to the small moveset, although overall the fresh feel of the combat, I dunno, since Yakuza 3, still makes it generally pretty gut.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

There's really just one thing that kind of bummed me out in the ending of Yakuza 6,

Spoiler

which was that I really hoped Kiryu would get to retire to being an Okinawan grandpappy full time. Oh well at least he only faked his death.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

I never get to play any Yakuza after 3

My (shared with cousin) PS3 got YLOD and we never did buy another console after that

Glad its coming to PC

 

[taxalot]

I played Yakuza 1 through 5. I'm interested in 0 and 6 potentially coming to PC.

But I wonder about Kiwami : besides the graphic overhaul, does it add anything to the game ? New gameplay elements ? New sidequests ?

 

[Deflowerer]

Kiwami:

Certain new sidequests, some minigames not present in original, Majima Everywhere system, among others.

But yeah, I'm holding off the purchase of Kiwami 2 until Christmas this year. Yakuza 6 will last me quite a bit given my pace and just want to pace out these games. Hopefully they announce the PC version by then.

Plus there's Kenzan and Ishin still waiting to be played, although it will be a more laborious effort with the translation guides and what not (although in Yakuza 6, I understand like 70% of the dialogue).

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

It also uses combat styles and moves from Zero.

 

[sullynathan]

I tried the yakuza 6 demo and something fell off about it. It wasn't as good as yakuza 5

 

[Abu Antar]

New engine. I think games will get better as they use it more.

 

[vota DC]

Hope they will do Hokuto no Ken for PC too, make sense since it is already known in west.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Only thing that kind of jarred me was just that the game often slowed down around multiple transparent windows.

The simpler combat system worked just fine for me, it was very fluid and played well with the freedeom of movement added. There's not much variety to how you can fight like in Zero and Kiwami, but the base gameplay remains solid and enjoyable through and through. Heat Rush also makes for a pretty hype thing to do when a boss activates their red Heat (I also find it more aesthetically pleasing than almost perpetual Heat battle aura).

 

[Cromwell]

Currently 0 and Kiwami are 75% discounted in the psn store which means 15 euro per game, now I am on the fence, do i buy the ps4 versions or wait for pc versions?

 

[Ivan]

PC

 

[Cromwell]

PC

why? I cant play in 4k anyways, any other reason? (besides pc master race)

 

[Deflowerer]

If you have 60hz+ monitor, uncapped frame rate?

 

[Abu Antar]

PC

why? I cant play in 4k anyways, any other reason? (besides pc master race)

PC uses Denuvo.