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

Terra

Cipher
Joined
Sep 4, 2016
Messages
896
Finished Yakuza 7, terrific reboot of the series with a new protagonist. I honestly haven't been as hooked by a Yakuza plot since I first played Yakuza 1 all the way back on PS2. Really enjoyed my time with the game.

Thoughts below:
On PC at least, I had excellent performance across the game, I chose to lock it to 60FPS max and I was able to hit that easily with plenty of headroom to spare. Game was super stable for me - zero crashes from start to finish. I think Denuvo's still in the game as of my writing this, but aside from that, great port.

Wasn't a fan of the part time hero activities, and ended up not seeking many of them out, mostly seemed like quite low-effort content on the developers part. With the vast majority of sidestories now being split into multiple parts, I really didn't feel like this game needed padding with this extra content. I feel for anyone who sets about trying to 100% the game. I did the Cat Rescue x2 missions and any I naturally bumped into during city traversal but yeah, PTH is just herb gathering by another name. Game has enough content without it.

Side stories were excellent this time around, I loved the new Be my Baby story with the Gondawara guys, you got a hint that it might be going in that direction with the baby formula, and then Ichiban's face is just priceless. Great summon too. The guy covered in bubbles that needed escorting was hilarious too. Also many, many wholesome moments spread across the side stories. In a lot of ways, this game feels like the Saints Row 3 of the Yakuza series, with the costume/job changes and themed enemies really cranking the silliness factor up beyond past entries for a prolonged period. It's all lampshaded by Ichiban's uh, delusions, I guess, so it works. The crazy "summons" in particular brought me back to being a kid and playing Final Fantasy 7 for the first time and witnessing craziness like Fat Chocobo for the first time, really amusing stuff whilst still being in keeping with the Yakuza game world and emphasising the building of relationships through the substories. At first, I thought they might have gone too far with the silliness, with the giant Hitachi Magic Wand I bought early on possibly serving as a prelude to the SR3 dildo bat, however unlike SR3, Yakuza 7 still manages to maintain a good balance of seriousness when needed, such as the main plot thread and also numerous sidestories. I'd probably go so far to say it's probably the most wholesome Yakuza game on that front.

It's missing some minigames from past entries. Guessing they can't reconcile the physics system and variable framerate of past minigames in the new engine, but I definitely missed Pool & Bowling (as well as Disco, but I guess that's never coming back). Honestly, as I play more and more of the series, the more I find I'm merely skimming over most of the returning minigames; I play a quick runthrough of VF2/5 if they're there, try the mini golf once, baseball once, but while I'm happy they're there, it is very much a case of "been there, done that" for a lot of these minigames. Hence why I found Y0 refreshing, adding in new stuff like Disco, Bowling, Cabaret Management. Eh, I guess a lot of the returning minigame entries lack the allure they once held (and to be fair, that's somewhat expected given I've been playing since the first entry) but I suppose I didn't find the new Business management & Dragon Kart quite as much fun as some of 0's offerings, they were okay though.

I didn't buy the Job DLC, but I don't appreciate having content like that behind a paywall, granted it isn't needed to beat the game or anything but it sets a sad precadent moving forwards.

Bond between core cast seems as strong as/stronger than Kaz's from past games. I found the scenes where the cast were chatting/hanging in the bar, as well as post-meal chats & banter all added considerable believabilty to the cast bonding strongly over a relatively short period of time, there's a different dynamic to the stoic Kiryu drowning his sorrows with 1/2 other people in Serena and I think they did a really good job with this over the course of the whole game everything feels organic and flows well with the core narrative. The party dynamic allows them to do/pull off different things than before when it was typically just Kiryu on his own or with a single partner and that's used to great effect throughout the game. I felt Zhao & Joon-gi Han were probably recruited a little late (I'd already done a lot of side content by this point, so it was hard to raise the bond meter with them naturally, had to gift spam in the end). Adachi was great, as was Saeko, I wish Nanba would change out of his hobo outfit at some point, lol. Eri felt a bit like a bonus character as she isn't really there in any cutscenes, but she pops up conspicuously during those moments when it's only meant to be 3 in the part if you happen to have her. They've built a solid cast in the core party, I'd be interested to see who will return as regular party members in the future.

I appreciated being able to buy (most) crafting materials en masse, handy once you'd mastered the business minigame, saved me some time.

Not much to do in Sotenbori/Kamurocho besides the battle arena, hearing the old battle theme was cool though. This was both a good and a bad thing, at this point I'd done everything in the first city (excluding PTH) and I wasn't relishing another city full of sub stories to conquer this late in the game. On the other hand, things do feel kinda empty in these cities, though I understand why it is that way.

Returning character spoilers
Fighting against the Tojo guys; Majima, Saejima & especially Kiryu became predominantly defensive battles. I'd gone through the battle arena quite a bit (high 50s) and I was still chugging first aid kits against Kiryu. Bosses were tough battles and unlike anything else you fight in the game.

Kiryu looked a bit... off, I guess. As we've gone through sequels and different engines, we've seen him get older, then in some games he gets a bit chunkier and here he looks a bit younger than I expected tbh. He's a bit like a Tekken character, suddenly aging up in Tekken 3, then mysteriously looking younger again in future games. The pocket circuit guy looks positively decripit by comparison.

The class-specific weaponry coupled with the fact that each character has a unique class always left me unsure as to what ultimately I should be working towards - like, would Ichiban's Hero class and his unique bat ultimately turn out to be the best choice for him, what about other characters. This make it tricky to determine what equipment to invest in through the crafting system as well.

Concerning the spawning of enemy groups - sometimes these groups just spawn way too close to you after you win a battle. I was heading down a street alongside the river, and ended up in 4 battles back to back as a new enemy group spawned in just 2 meters down the road when I defeated the prior group. All just to walk down one road.

Move variety - too many moves look or at least feel the same/similar. Like Fiendish Slash looks the same as Devilish Slash (excluding VFX). If you do a lot of job switching you end up with such a large list of moves by the end and I'd have liked them to be set apart from each other a bit more.

[Story + characters]
The twist with Sawashiro was unexpected, the whole thing is a little farfetched sure, but it works so I can roll with it. I found it interesting that they set up Ichiban + Arakawa's story to be so similar to Kiryu's in Y1. Even had the betraying "brother" aspect in there as well. And Adachi is the police sidekick too. For a moment I thought Ryo Aoki might actually survive through to the ending, I was already imagining the prison visit in Yakuza 8 but...

Fucking Kume, male-feminist/SJW fuck that he is, man, I hope we get to smash that cretin's face in again in the future. Well-played on the devs' part though, you'd just about forgotten that little shit by that point in the story. Aoki's fleeing and ultimate fate also reminded me a little of the end of Death Note.

Anyway, I really liked the core story of Y7, of course there's the usual gameplay/story disconnect where Ichiban is both simultaneously the president of a holdings company that's raking in hundreds of billions of Yen, whilst also being dirt broke and unable to buy ramen in any story cutscene. But the main plot thread was great, I thought, really puts Ichiban through the wringer in the final chapters of the game, some really well done cutscenes and dialogue.

[Final Thoughts]
Now after finishing the game, my thoughts turn to how I always felt that Y1/Y2 provided really solid endings / walk off into the sunset moments for Kiryu personally, while after that, I found some of the rationale for him being continuously dragged back into things (and subsequent endings) somewhat lacking. I know they're planning to keep going with Ichiban, but much like Y1 closed out a big chunk of Kiryu's past/family drama perfectly, likewise Y7 starts and ends really nicely, telling a relatively complete story arc of Ichiban that's bookended perfectly at the start and finish of the tale. I can only hope they can repeat that in his upcoming game(s) as well as they managed to here in Y7.

Honestly, it's probably a contender for my favourite Yakuza game now, I've had a great time with it and am sorry to see it end. Highly recommended. I took a quick look at some forums and saw supposed series fans refusing to get it due to the "slow/boring" turn-based battle system. Man, are they missing out on a great game.
 

Jinn

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,930
I took a quick look at some forums and saw supposed series fans refusing to get it due to the "slow/boring" turn-based battle system. Man, are they missing out on a great game.

Beyond being a fan of turn-based combat, and feeling that it was implemented in a fast-paced and engaging way in this game, what turn-based RPG combat offered to the series was a modicum of challenge, with more fights actually requiring a bit of input and thought throughout the experience. I've pretty much accepted combat in the Yakuza series as being an entertaining, but piss easy almost mini-game of sorts. The experience as a whole is what makes the games shine, but sadly they could all be truly godly games if they'd just at least give us the option for a more challenging combat system from the beginning. Again, something I've essentially made peace with in my love for the series, but hope they are a little more open-minded about going forward.

And the reason why Yakuza 7 ranks as possibly my favorite game in the series. The all-around gameplay is the best in my eyes, from combat, to everything else. Lay some awesome characters and a good story on top of it all, and you've got possibly the best Yakuza experience available.
 

Nirvash

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,105
7pUypG7.jpg


FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
 

cruel

Cipher
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
854
What a retarded idea to provide zero checkpoints in Millennium Tower. I reached the boss, run out of time (work next day), and it seems i will now need to replay 1.5h of fighting boring trash mobs. Like a single checkpoint before the boss would hurt anyone, wtf. Overall, the difficulty of the game (or lack of it) is probably my biggest complaint overall.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
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Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
What a retarded idea to provide zero checkpoints in Millennium Tower. I reached the boss, run out of time (work next day), and it seems i will now need to replay 1.5h of fighting boring trash mobs. Like a single checkpoint before the boss would hurt anyone, wtf. Overall, the difficulty of the game (or lack of it) is probably my biggest complaint overall.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
As long as you get out of there before it blows up.
Again.
 

Ivan

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
7,471
Location
California
it's gems like these that I suffer through this shitty minigame


Anyway, I've gone back to tie up some loose ends as a fellow codexer mentioned a baseball minigame that I didn't trigger in my playthrough (crazy how that works, as I'm sure I went to the apartments plenty of times). Anyway, super grateful I did b/c the minigame opens up the wonderful bar minigame/arc. I would bother with the hostess shit if it had more consistent narrative payoff like we see in the bar section, or how it was handled in 0.

The RTS minigame blows, as it did in K2, but at least there are some good laughs, love that dumb "Tranquilo" guy

Now I'll have to start thinking about replaying 0, or hope/pray that Judgement hits PC. Curious to see how Ishin resonates. Which Y title do folks liken it to the most? I'm sure it controls great since it was developed after Y5.
 
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Rean

Head Codexian Weeb
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Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Messages
1,910
Strap Yourselves In
Wow!
I didn't expect party members in Like a Dragon to be locked behind sidequests (just recruited Eri). That's some really awesome stuff. It hits that 'explore/play and be rewarded' note, I love it.
 

Nirvash

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,105
Fucking roombas, holy shit, i have to get some defense and super armor.
How do i make money in 6? No purgatory (like WHAT), no gambling?

I have to redo rts shit forever? That crap don't even give me the damn green stat i need, 9999 in everything but 0 green, wtf.

And legit no neutral heat action for grabbed enemy, the most common and used heat action in the whole series is missing lol
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
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Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,231
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Fucking roombas, holy shit, i have to get some defense and super armor.
How do i make money in 6? No purgatory (like WHAT), no gambling?

I have to redo rts shit forever? That crap don't even give me the damn green stat i need, 9999 in everything but 0 green, wtf.

And legit no neutral heat action for grabbed enemy, the most common and used heat action in the whole series is missing lol
Spearfishing
 

Vaarna_Aarne

Notorious Internet Vandal
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
34,585
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Cell S-004
MCA Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2
hope/pray that Judgement hits PC.
This is almost certainly not happening, since it isn't up to SEGA. The talent agency who Takuya Kimura works for, Johnny's & Associates (massive assholes all around to begin with, late Johnny himself most of all), is virulently hostile to the idea of a Steam release for some reason (this is also why Kimura doesn't have a karaoke minigame, since the talent agency doesn't want that).
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
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Messages
28,231
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
this is also why Kimura doesn't have a karaoke minigame, since the talent agency doesn't want that
This is some galaxy brain logic. Do not let the idol singer fella sing in-game, wotta plan.
Need an Awano game with karaoke though.
 

Deuce Traveler

2012 Newfag
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
Just like in Yakuza 0, the side quests are better than the main quest line in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I really love Ichiban as a character, too. Some of the stuff in this game is hilarious. Social comedy is hard because you either come across as too cruel or weak in the jokes. It's hard to celebrate the stupidity of modern culture while taking jabs at it. But this game really pulls it off, and I haven't seen social comedy this good in a video game since GTA 3: Vice City, GTA 3: San Andreas, and Saints Row 3 and 4. I did nearly all the side quests for kicks, and even got and maxed out Eri (she is the weakest of the characters and seems like an after thought since she is absent from cut scenes).

I heard about a difficulty spike in Chapter 12 and I thought maybe all my grinding and side quests made that irrelevant since I was curb-stomping all of the random encounters, but then I ran into the boss fight and it was like hitting a wall, especially since the boss seems invulnerable to charm and stun, and my main party is Ichiban, Saeko, Adachi, and Joon-gi. The stun attacks from Joon-gi and ADachi aren't working, and neither is Saeko's charm spell. Saeko has been keeping the party alive with frequent mass healing spells with her Idol magic. About the only status effect I can make work is lowering the boss' defense, but then his buddy joined in an killed Ichiban with a special attack right when I thought I had the first boss on the ropes. Guess I'm going to have to go to the Arena and get gud, and maybe find a place that sells better armor than what I am currently wearing.

Edit: Just wanted to add that my eyes did widen when I saw Eri's self-heal ability. :D
 
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Nirvash

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,105
aaaaaaaand yakuza 6 done

CuU0IMz.jpg


I started 0 at the end of may, so 7 games in 6 months, omg i played like 290h.

My god i'm SO gonna miss kiryu.

So, how was 6?
It was... ok, at core is a good game but is just... half done, missing so much content and polish.
Is a pity.
Finale was garbage, epilogue was ok, kiryu got a decent closure.
But so much stuff and characters missing...

Ok let's rank the games:

The best yakuza is 5: shinada, the most and varied content, so many maps, shinada, the best writing overall, shinada.
Second best is 0, just a step below.
Third is kiwami 2, engine/combat is more polished than 6, more content, story shit the bed at the end but nice characters.
I feel 4-6 are about even, 4 start very strong but the story shit the bed HARD and side stuff is a bit lacking, 6 is ok but half done.
Second worst is 3, okinawa part was the only good thing, old engine and clunky combat, so so writing but ok characters. (no, no beautuful eyes, so stupid)
The worst? Kiwami, story is full nonsense after 0 and combat is very unbalanced, majima padding do not save it at all, what a bad remake.

Best boy: shinada
Best side stuff: 0 cabaret
Best waifu: majima
 
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Nirvash

Liturgist
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Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,105
Nirvash
how did the Yakuza fatigue not hit you? Jesus.

I got it at bit around 3, and then i played 60h of kingdom come, 4 shitting the bed also slowed me a bit.

So yeah, is more like 7 games in 5 months.

7 games in 6 months, omg i played like 290h.
Are you, may Allah forgive me for uttering such word, "speedrunner"?:rpgcodex:

well, not gonna play the same minigames every game, i do the new ones, i do the subquest, i do the arena and that's it.
Dumbass keys and weapon modding can go to hell.

Ah, very subpar arcade games selection, i can understand not having house of the dead or daytona/sega rally, but no golden axe or altered beast?
Lol the fuck was that 3d shmup.
6 got a ok selection but fantasy zone plays like shit and puyo puyo is the modern shitty remake.
 

Deuce Traveler

2012 Newfag
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
Nirvash , I just finished Yakuza: Like a Dragon in 9 days and 60 hours, after playing quickly through Yakuza 0 during the holiday break. That's two Yakuza games in about a month. And I'm fucking exhausted and don't want to see another Yakuza game for awhile. I'll probably do something healthy like read a book or something.

I'll give Yakuza: Like a Dragon a very strong recommend. I love the protaganist and his growth, love the city he resides in, and love his supporting cast. I'm also a big fan of job systems acting in place of character classes, and lots of side content, which this game has a ton of. Really, I doubt I made much of a dent in the side content, despite doing most of the street encounter missions and the business management game to completion. The game did a good enough job of an actually fun jRPG style game that it is making me wonder whether or not I should play the Dragon Quest games. I prefer gameplay over story, but I admit that ending was a gut punch.

Between this game and the Dark Souls trilogy, Japan is really kicking ass in the RPG market.
 

Nirvash

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,105
Nirvash , I just finished Yakuza: Like a Dragon in 9 days and 60 hours, after playing quickly through Yakuza 0 during the holiday break. That's two Yakuza games in about a month. And I'm fucking exhausted and don't want to see another Yakuza game for awhile. I'll probably do something healthy like read a book or something.

I'll give Yakuza: Like a Dragon a very strong recommend. I love the protaganist and his growth, love the city he resides in, and love his supporting cast. I'm also a big fan of job systems acting in place of character classes, and lots of side content, which this game has a ton of. Really, I doubt I made much of a dent in the side content, despite doing most of the street encounter missions and the business management game to completion. The game did a good enough job of an actually fun jRPG style game that it is making me wonder whether or not I should play the Dragon Quest games. I prefer gameplay over story, but I admit that ending was a gut punch.

Between this game and the Dark Souls trilogy, Japan is really kicking ass in the RPG market.

Cuz 7 is a reboot.

But going 0 to 6 is like to play one massive single game.
 

Nortar

Arcane
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Pathfinder: Wrath
But going 0 to 6 is like to play one massive single game.

The proper order is not chronological, but how they were released: 1-2-0- 3 / 6.
It's just not the same learning Majima's backstory before duking it out with him for 2 games.

Edit: Checked if I'm wrong, and I am. It should be 1 / 5 - 0 - 6. Fuck. I played it in wrong order myself.
 

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