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

[Naraya]

Just finished Yakuza 3. I thought I played through a fair bit of the sidestories and activities but the final screen displayed a whopping... 14.8% completion.
Liked it a lot but lack of cabaret club is a major . Haven't decided yet whether to move to Yakuza 4 or complete more Y3 content.

 

[Jenkem]

a feature that was in a later game not being present in an earlier game is "decline"

 

[Naraya]

a feature that was in a later game not being present in an earlier game is "decline"

It's the 4th Yakuza game I play (0->K->K2->3), so to me technically speaking it's not an earlier game. That's all.

 

[mediocrepoet]

a feature that was in a later game not being present in an earlier game is "decline"

It's the 4th Yakuza game I play (0->K->K2->3), so to me technically speaking it's not an earlier game. That's all.

Devs not having time machines to add features to games in the order that I play them instead of the order they created them is pure and unadulterated

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

They honestly don't really get the hostess management minigame right until Yakuza 0. But it's one thing the series consistently nails, improving on iterations of minigames (ie, Clan Creator from 6 gets massively improved in Kiwami 2's Majima Construction, even if hostess management is the biggest example).

 

[Jenkem]

Y2-4 just had "hostess maker" and it's shit.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dragon engine. First used in Yakuza 6.

*pushes up glasses and snorts*

I know, but it'll be a while 'fore I get to 6.

Really like the fightan in this. Also virtua fighter.

 

[Aqualung]

I have just bought the exact same parka Saejima wears in Yakuza 5 .

 

[Deflowerer]

BUM

 

[Ivan]

first impressions of Yakuza 3:
Shifting gears back to Kiryu's adventures after the detour that was Yakuza 7 has been overall sobering. It's cool to see how little has changed in the base formula that makes me love this games so much. It's definitely not the combat. In fact, it reminded me of how much I preferred 0's combat to Kiwami 1 and 2. Fights with goons feel more like random encounters in your typical JRPG since you can't identify which NPC will trigger a fight on the map. Combat feels the same as in the older titles, but it doesn't feel any more rudimentary than what you see in any of the remakes or 0. No real camera issues to complain about here, and Kiryu controls well both in combat and in free-roam. Exploration feels more limited here, not being able to explore alleys or stairwells that look like you should be able to access. I actually quite miss the turn based combat of 7 but let's nail down what just sucks here: not knowing which blows your enemies are going to block then having them knock you down for a few seconds. Your best bet is to lead them on and combo against their backs, rinse and repeat. The game has introduced a weapon modding NPC, so we'll see how that goes. Combat aside, the heart and charm is intact. I'm enjoying the dramatic change of scenery that Okinawa brings to the table and it's cool how quickly the story picks up on after the events of 2. It actually makes me feel like no time has past since I played it, very well done on that front! Anyway, happy to continue playing and see where this chapter of Kiryu's journey takes me. Thus far it feels like I'm zipping through the chapters, makes me wonder if this is probably the shortest campaign? After all this was the first Yakuza title after they switched to the "new engine" after the PS2 titles.

 

[distant]

Honestly looking back Yakuza 3 is the first that actually taught me how to play the game skillfully, I didn't realise how dependent I was on mashing/aggressively pushing until I wasn't able to do it anymore. Now playing through Yakuza 4 I feel I'm much more thoughtful about my approach to spacing/countering/blocking (not that you really need to be, game seems a lot more forgiving inline with the other games). Even using the grab, never really did it (except for heat actions) prior to that game.

 

[Ivan]

While I will admit that Y3 has presented the weakest conflict in the series thus far (0-3 + 7) the character work here is very well done, probably its strongest element. This easily top 10 Yakuza moment for me:

Spoiler

 

[Jenkem]

Y3 story is dumb as fuck.

Spoiler

You never even fight Hamazaki as part of the plot and Mine is a shit antagonist with a stupid as fuck motivation "i have such a mancrush on daigo i hate to see him in a coma so i'm going to kill him instead"

 

[Misco Jones]

Damn, I loved this substory.

Spoiler

I want Kenzan and Ishin right now.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

I want Kenzan and Ishin right now.

Yeah

 

[Terra]

Playing through Kiwami 2 now on Steam, the darts minigame seems to have a huge deadzone when using a controller, and the point where the game recognises the tilt axis & accepts it causes my aim to be offset massively. Makes the minigame much more difficult, yet it is a piece of piss using the mouse. Anyone else or just me? Controller behaves perfectly fine elsewhere and the axes all check out correctly when I tested em outside the game.

 

[Jenkem]

that's how they've always worked, mouse is practically cheating. same w/ baseball.

 

[Reinhardt]

that's how they've always worked, mouse is practically cheating. same w/ baseball.

And shooting fucking rockets with handgun in car chase scene.

 

[Terra]

Really? Been a while so I've forgotten. Fair enough then.

 

[Ivan]

Y3 does a poor job of balancing the serious Yakuza drama with the Daddy-Kiryu narrative. The conflict behind the serious-Yakuza drama is very weak, with a main baddy who is more confused than malicious. Poor major conflict aside, the supporting cast that round out the Okinawa location are fantastic. Rikiya is a fantastic alt-take on Nishiki and the kids are a lovable bunch that often lead to funny story threads.

Combat is fine. There's only one fighting style, the skill tree is frustratingly spoon fed to you in such a way that you can't quite tell how each thread branches out. I felt the random combat encounters were more prevalent this time around. You'll still get frustrating by the enemies blocking your attacks, or how they magically track your dodges.

TLDR: Daddy-Kiryu is fantastic. The serious-Yakuza drama that pulls him back to Kamurocho is half-baked. The heart and charm you expect from the series is fully intact. A solid entry in the series. Also, kudos to the impressive crowd system. I've never seen Kamurocho so jam packed with NPCs, reminded me of the Mardi Gras level in Hitman: Blood Money.

So far I have it: 7>0>2>1>3

Onwards to Yakuza 4 (after I chase down the last few side quests in Okinawa that is!)


edit: knowing that

Spoiler

Kashiwagi

is present in Y7 after what happens to him in Y3

 

[Jenkem]

Yakuza 4 is best game.
Shun Akiyama is best protag.

simple as.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

He's the second best singer, true enough.

 

[Jenkem]

name a better protag.

kiryu is a simp

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I'll get back to you on that one once I finish the games.

 

[Doktor Best]

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