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

[ERYFKRAD]

Man i can't get over how much of a fucking BANGER this soundtrack is

Really gets the adrenaline going.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The first Kuze fight was the moment the series had me hooked. The build-up, the music, and the boss title splash. It was just perfection.

 

[Fishy]

Kuze is such a fucking legend. My favourite antagonist so far.

 

[oasis789]

FYI am giving away a key for Yakuza Kiwami 2 in the gifting thread.

 

[Grim Jima]

Finally finished 0,1,2,3,4,and 5. really fun games. great characters and nicely done action set pieces.

However, i found the storytelling generally awful. especially 3,4, and 5. i can see why many rank 0, 1, and 2 so highly as those games have great narratives and memorable characters. but why's this the case?
it would make sense if each iteration had a different writing staff, but it seems the series has had the same lead writer since 2005. why the drop in quality?

should i be worried with 6 and 7?

 

[Fishy]

Finally finished 0,1,2,3,4,and 5. really fun games. great characters and nicely done action set pieces.

However, i found the storytelling generally awful. especially 3,4, and 5. i can see why many rank 0, 1, and 2 so highly as those games have great narratives and memorable characters. but why's this the case?
it would make sense if each iteration had a different writing staff, but it seems the series has had the same lead writer since 2005. why the drop in quality?

should i be worried with 6 and 7?

Haven't played 6 yet (am in 4 right now), but 7 is magnificent. It's everything you'd expect and more from a Yakuza storyline with drama, insanity and plot twists all the fucking time.

 

[Fishy]

Speaking of Yakuza 4... THIS QUEST:

:D

 

[Strange Fellow]

Been playing 0 lately at the insistence of a friend, and it's been a very pleasant surprise. These are probably the best cutscenes I've ever seen in a video game, and the fighting's pretty fun, too. I'm thinking I want to keep going with the games in chronological order, now that I already started with the prequel. How is the remake of the first game? I would just play the PS2 original, except there's apparently no English version with Japanese voices. I'm assuming the remake rectifies that.

 

[Terra]

Kiwami 1 (the remake) is decent, they ported the fighting mechanics from 0 to it so you've got the styles from 0 in Kiwami, unlike the PS2 original. You better like Majima because you'll be seeing him a lot. Kiwami also isn't as content rich as 0 so it may feel like a step down in that regard if you play it straight after 0. Kiwami does indeed feature the japanese dub, exclusively. It's a fine remake on the whole though, I liked it. There's far more contention over Y2/Kiwami 2 over which one is best tbh, due to the remake of 2 missing some content (though it does add some new stuff too).

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

It also does a lot of improve the main story through inclusion of cutscenes about what happened to Nishiki while Kiryu was in jail.

 

[Silentstorm]

Only played 0, 1, 2 and 3, tried playing 4 but am experiencing burnout but still want some Yakuza so i jumped straight to 7 for now, Ichiban is a fun crazy character so far.

As for Kiwami 1, i left thinking Kazama is an overrated Yakuza after 0 shows him being this massive mastermind and everyone talking about how he redefines what being a man is, seriously, Kazama royally screwed up when it comes to handling Nishiki and maybe Kiryu, and other actions also caused problems for the Tojo Clan.

Kazama may be the man Kiryu considers his real father, but damn me if i don't find him to be actually an incompetent Yakuza whose decisions screwed up everything after his glory days.

 

[Silentstorm]

And i screwed myself with the business minigame after reaching rank 20, wasn't paying that much attention and i just assumed Nick Ogata would give me some money like before, so i decided to play around and get some loans, Nick usually gives so much money it wouldn't hurt...right?

Wrong, this is the first time that no one calls Nick after filling his condition and i really wish you could just give shareholder meeting money into paying debts or transfer your own money, can't even pay for a commercial now.

Auto-care also gets expensive fast and i really wish i hadn't been playing around, the only easy part are shareholder meetings where i always get full support and rise ranks, i think i will reach loan shark levels of danger, really should have taken this a bit more seriously and looked at a guide rather than just doing whatever and assuming Nick would give money just because he did it every single other time.

 

[Reinhardt]

the only easy part are shareholder meetings where i always get full support and rise ranks

Con man.

 

[1451]

The part of the minigame that is tied to the main story progression is very easy, going for number 1 business is more challenging but that's to be expected from something optional.

 

[Silentstorm]

the only easy part are shareholder meetings where i always get full support and rise ranks

Con man.

Hey, i can't help it if jumping and groveling next to charismatic employees makes people spend millions of yen on a sinking ship.

But yeah, i don't find getting to rank 1 that hard so far, every single shareholder meeting has been a success so far, even against those three people, haven't gotten to rank 1 yet though, just find it funny that i can get people to invest so much money and yet...none of it seems to do much, i can't spend it on my business and only a small part goes to Ichiban and the party, like, loans would be so much easier if i could spend their money.

But that's what i get for giving my guys better jobs in the company, training them and wanting some more places, i mean, Nick Ogata gave me 50 million yen before, surely he will give some more and...nothing for rank 20 and 10.

And i can't seem to transfer money or use anything obtained in the shareholder meeting.

 

[Kaivokz]

Silentstorm Did you buy the businesses with the highest revenues and sell your old places? I'm just going into rank 20 making 40 mil a turn even with some unnecessary level 30 employees.

edit- just went into rank 20 and started making 100 million a turn...

 

[Silentstorm]

And...done, paid all the loans, got rank 1 and paid almost all facility updates to the workshop...all with three stores, those extra workers that come with the legendary edition really help, i mean who is going to say no to the Dragon of Dojima and Mad Dog of Shimano?

 

[Silentstorm]

What i said, only had three businesses because of loans, but i got various characters from previous games working on them, i think it's DLC that came with the edition i bought?

It is kinda fun having Kiryu, Majima, Daigo, Yuki and others working on stores, and they make shareholder meetings really easy, i just like the idea that it's partly because the shareholders get scared of these Ex-Yakuza staring at them, like the ex-chairman of the former Tojo Clan just sitting there saying that business is totally good, and like, are you gonna ignore the guy with the eyepatch sitting next to him=

I guess i could use other employees, but having the Shareholder meetings being composed of Ex-Yakuza helping Ichiban staring at rich people is just funny to me.

 

[SerratedBiz]

I one-shotted the enterprise minigame without much difficulty. It's okay to abuse loans to buy higher value businesses or hire the best possible workers, since they'll always turn a profit as long as you meet the business's requirements. It's pretty much a no-brainer and, other than the grind to make money to spend money to make money, there's very little complexity to it at all.

 

[StaticSpine]

I finished Like a Dragon yesterday. And it was fantastic.

I want to rant about the ending, tho. Massive spoilers!

Spoiler

• Kume killing Ryo/Masato was so stupid. It came out of nowhere. It was not foreshadowed in any way. And the dude was in the other town, and how the fuck did he even know where to find Aoki? They just pulled that out of their asses for unnecessary drama.
• Overall, Ichiban is a very likable protagonist, and I kinda dig that he doesn't change throughout the story and remains loyal to Arakawa-san, the man saved his ass and was really kind to him. But why was he so obsessed with Masato in the end and all that "much brother" shit? The dude always treated him like shit, called him Ichibad and so on. Kasuga got a crew of best friends in the world, but he still sticks to the one who mocked him? I was so annoyed by that.

 

[Silentstorm]

Yeah, i am enjoying it, it's also just nice having a JRPG set in the modern world that isn't Persona, also one that has a protagonist that isn't a teenager, and i find the silliness actually pretty fun and cute.

 

[Urthor]

Not sure how to feel knowing if I finish Like a Dragon there is another 3 months of weekends of Yakuza games to play.

It's all too much for me.

 

[Jinn]

Not sure how to feel knowing if I finish Like a Dragon there is another 3 months of weekends of Yakuza games to play.

It's all too much for me.

Just play them when you feel like it instead of forcing yourself.

I want to rant about the ending, tho.

Spoiler

• Overall, Ichiban is a very likable protagonist, and I kinda dig that he doesn't change throughout the story and remains loyal to Arakawa-san, the man saved his ass and was really kind to him. But why was he so obsessed with Masato in the end and all that "much brother" shit? The dude always treated him like shit, called him Ichibad and so on. Kasuga got a crew of best friends in the world, but he still sticks to the one who mocked him? I was so annoyed by that.

Spoiler

Absolutely in line with Ichiban's overall character and forgiving nature. Beyond that, they were tied together by their insane intertwined fate and the massive coincidence that brought them back together after it all. If you really take a close look at Ichiban's character throughout the game, you know he's not going to condemn or refuse to forgive someone so closely intertwined with his own situation and the people he loves. He views Masato as a brother, as family, and as such, someone he wants to keep in his life no matter what. It goes against much of what we take for granted in human nature, but so do a great majority of Ichiban's actions.

 

[StaticSpine]

Spoiler

Absolutely in line with Ichiban's overall character and forgiving nature. Beyond that, they were tied together by their insane intertwined fate and the massive coincidence that brought them back together after it all. If you really take a close look at Ichiban's character throughout the game, you know he's not going to condemn or refuse to forgive someone so closely intertwined with his own situation and the people he loves. He views Masato as a brother, as family, and as such, someone he wants to keep in his life no matter what. It goes against much of what we take for granted in human nature, but so do a great majority of Ichiban's actions.

True, but still annoying.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm glad that you liked it. I was very strongly recommending it when you asked. Good to know your money "didn't go to waste".

I haven't even beaten it myself. I stopped playing the PS4 version, but won't continue the save file. I will replay the game on PS5. I finally worked out how to upgrade the thing from PS4 to PS5, and it was a pita. I'll give that one to Microsoft. They seem to have done a much better job with Smart Delivery or whatever they call it.