[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Oh wow, now that's some commendable dedication right there🤯Are you playing AC Unity/Shenmue alongside this, or are you focusing solely on Y4?

I was totally in the dark about that Tanimura bit😯Gotta give huge props to the second actor for delivering a performance that closely resembles the OG's, while adding his own flair to it. But yeah, I really dig the OG actor's design.

I think Kiryu's VA have said that voicing that moment was the saddest thing he had to do in the series :( . I hope you get to play Yakuza 0 with the OG actor lineup intact (no more controversies please😢). 10/10 performance from the entire cast.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH I got inspired by our conversation to focus solely on Yakuza now. Although I was playing AC Syndicate before Yakuza 4, I installed Yakuza 4 while still playing it, but focused more on Yakuza after I finished Syndicate (2 weeks ago). Now I need to go through AC Chronics before Origin, and those are of a different format, and Origins+Odyssey+Valhalla make a "mythos trilogy" of their own, so makes sense to pause there.

As for Shenmue, no, I am focused on Yakuza only for now. But I want to tackle Shemnue game soon too, because I want to check out that anime they made, it is supposedly not bad. Not a masterpiece, though, either, but game-based animation of this variety is interesting as it may give a glimpse into what anime based on Yakuza may be like. That'd be the day.

Yeah, it was a bit sudden and not very...nice...the way it all went down with Tanimura VA. I liked the OG better myself, but there are split camps about this. And people focus more on corporate ethics of this issue rather than replacement acting, too.

Yakuza 0, as far as I know, does not have any changes like that, Tanimura was the only one it ever happened to in the series, and this could be the reason why they only have him in Yakuza 4 and did not develop the character further. Though there are other characters they sort of...abandoned? Like Kaoru Sayama from Yakuza 2. She did not really "fit the vibe" (maybe?), but still, feels kind of cut off.

Then again, you can't grow an exquisite bonsai without a bit of trimming.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Those AC Chronicles games should serve as a nice palate cleanser after playing all these open world/district games😁Do share your impressions of Shenmue here if you ever decide to play it. I'd love to know how much gameplay DNA does both Shenmue and Yakuza share.

Yakuza's creator has departed Sega and has started a new studio, so it'll be exciting to see how he evolves the Yakuza formula. Exciting times ahead🤩

Lols Kaoru's conclusion was kind of hilarious😂 If all the games out there shared a common universe, she would probably pop up in a GTA game😅

"Then again, you can't grow an exquisite bonsai without a bit of trimming."
What a quote 👏

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Those Chronicles give me the impression that they were trying to make their own Mark of the Ninja:

But while that game is a polished masterpiece, those AC ones in comparison look like children trying on their parent's clothes. Adorable in their inadequacy.

I am sort of under the impression that Shenmue is something like "Yakuza: Junior Edition". I'll try it soon and report. I played only a small bit so far, they do have similarities world-creation-wise, at least.

Exciting times indeed, and I hope that such a healthy franchise will be bait for investors so losing SEGA piggybank would not affect quality. Creative freedom is a wonderful thing and something we need more in big games, as they joked quite enjoyably for me in Sunset Overdrive DLC (sadly, could not find a clip of that). But truly great game series need, sad as it is, substantial financial backing. But very true, exciting times.

So long as we're thinking "imaginary game multiverse", GTA is a good bet for her. My version would be that, by the Yakuza 6 time, Kaoru moved to Hong Kong, changed her name and now works for HKPD as Jane Teng (see Sleeping Dogs, not a Japanese game, but still a decent one)

I just finished Yakuza 4 (beat up all Amons and everything). Moving on to Yakuza 5.

Originally Posted by ZaidH

"Then again, you can't grow an exquisite bonsai without a bit of trimming."
What a quote 👏

Thank you for your kind words. I was trying to think of something befitting the Yakuza series, glad you liked it!

[ZaidH]

Mark of the Ninja! What a blast from the past😁But yeah, I wish Ubisoft handed these AC games to the studio that worked on those amazing Rayman games😅

Creative freedom is a wonderful thing and something we need more in big games

Agreed 100%. Publishers and the head executives out there should look at how Kojima flourished after he left Konami. Death Stranding might be a divisive game, but one can't deny how it's a breath of fresh air among its open world peers. Here's hoping NetEase grants that level of creative freedom to Toshihiro Nagoshi as well.

You're a legend for bringing up Sleeping Dogs! And yep it's the perfect setting for Kaoru. Wei Shen and Kaoru Sayama buddy cop game when😯

I just finished Yakuza 4 (beat up all Amons and everything). Moving on to Yakuza 5.

Ayyy nice😁 What's your rating for the game?

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH maybe Rayman games are too whacky for the "seriousness" of AC? Besides, Ubisoft is unlikely to delegate such a cash cow franchise too much. It's just that, with those Chronicles instalment, they delegated to Climax Studios, which is why the gameplay is so different.

But if they had to delegate in the first place, they could have chosen Klei, those guys proved with MotN that they can make good games of this type. Though they later moved to Don't Starve and Oxigen Not Included, leaving MotN behind, maybe that's why. I wish Klei would develop some of their games more, they got so focused on Don't Starve, for example, and nothing wrong with that, but I wish they'd do more for Invisible, Inc.

I like tactical turn-based games, but they only made a small DLC for that one and were done with it.

We shall wait and see. I am a bit concerned that NetEase mostly do multiplayer and mobile games, which do not often end up high in charts (to be fair, they do not focus exclusively on games, either). They need a big name in their corner, and Toshihiro Nagoshi is a name and brand all on its own by now, but with people like that, you need to know how to use them right. It'd be sad if we got something multiplayer like Yakuza-themed Fallout 76, Yakuza are story-driven games. And it does not rest solely on Toshihiro Nagoshi, too, you need to get Masayoshi Yokoyama and others on board as well. Let's wait and see.

Sleeping Dogs was a good game, though I wish we had more games from China itself like that, in actual Mandarin like Yakuza is in Japanese. Maybe something about triades? The only games from China that I know are Genshin Impact and The Legend of Sword and Fairy, but those are all fantasy games, not "ironically real" like Yakuza. Maybe someday. But at least we have Sleeping Dogs in Hong Kong, that's something.

About Yakuza 4, well... It was a good game, no doubt there, but it felt a bit...divided? As in, before that, Yakuza was Kiryu's personal story, but now the story is divided into 4, so the level of drama has gone down a bit. No more moments like with Rikiya, though there were emotional bits like the Coliseum speech you mentioned, and a couple of twists along the way yeah, the Kido and Arai turns were unexpected, but Hana-chan slimming was the biggest twist of them all! . And, seriously, Akiyama, if you're keeping a giant secret vault in your office, you could at least, oh, I dunno, LOCK IT? I mean, what's the point?!

And while new characters were refreshing somewhat, sometimes I got like "Why does not he counter after block?! Oh, right, he does not do that, right...", gameplay-wise. And some completion challenges dragged on, like with hostesses. But still, all that are minor things, it was still a great game. Even with less personal drama, it tried to tie it all together nicely, and the finale was very well-directed.

[ZaidH]

Yep, Klei would've been the perfect candidate. Ubisoft however, seems to have moved past those amazing UbiArt projects (Valiant Hearts, Child of Light etc). Apart from some mobile titles, I doubt that they (or a 3rd party studio) will revisit the Chronicle games😔

“We are influenced by movies and are interested in creating games that offer a high level of human drama,” Nagoshi explained (as translated by IGN). “That’s what we find fun. Just as before, I hope to create games in that vein that can reach a global audience.

"So you won’t find us making, like, smartphone puzzle games or whatever. Those games are fun, but what we’re good at and what the world expects from us is games with dramatic and moving stories, and that’s what we want to make. So that’s where our focus is.”

- From VGC

I'm cautiously optimistic for Nagoshi's game after reading the quote above from his interview with VGC. But yeah, it won't be the same without his Yakuza crew on board.

As for Yakuza 4, I feel that moving the main focus away from Kiryu was a good choice, but the dev team set their ambitions a little too high😅 Like you said in your Akiyama safe box example, the plot requires too many convenient things for it to work. Hope Y5 will rectify these shortcomings for you😁

I came across your monitor buying thread and just realized that Y5 might be among the games that you'll experience on it😯 Hope you've a jolly good time with the game and the shiny new hardware 🤩

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH We may get to see some of those yet, maybe. I hope. Makes sense for them to do what sells, hence endless Assassin's Creed games and Project Jade moving it to mobile, too. If you want art, you go for indie these days.

That interview is optimistic, but...there are just so many factors involved. It is interesting you mentioned that. Have you watched a series called "Mythic Quest" by any chance? It is a sitcom, but it does talk about modern issues in the game dev world through a satirical prism as well, it is quite well done in that capacity. Season 3 is currently airing. But each season has one episode that tells a story from another time, so for the purposes of this discussion (though it warrants its own thread), see if you can watch episode 5 of season 1 called "A Dark Quiet Death", it touches upon this subject quite well, and it is one of those "past" episodes, so watching just that has almost no spoilers.

I very much agree about Yakuza 4 and its focus, moving away from Kiryu was supposed to happen one way or another, and got cemented in Like a Dragon. But, as you said, the execution left something to be desired, but then again, it was the first attempt. And yeah, some plot devices were questionable, which is particularly sad because some of those obvious ones like with Akiyama could have been avoided with just a bit more writing effort. So far I am liking Yakuza 5 more than 4 in that regard (I am on Kiryu chapter 3). But I can also entertain the possibility that this Akiyama plot element was not sloppy writing but meant to deconstruct the character and give us players a hint about his attitude towards money by being so negligent with it, on a deeper psychological level. This intention is unlikely, but still possible.

I think I'll finish Yakuza 5 by the 25th of November, so maybe not Yakuza 5, but Yakuza 0 for sure. But I also still need to make a choice about the monitor, too!

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Made some good progress in Yakuza 5 this weekend. Finished up Kiryu and moved on to Taiga. I like the game structure better so far, part 4 was all set in just one city (well, almost), but part 5 has 4 more, and they are all distinct landmarks, which is further emphasized by the option to take some pictures in-game for the tourist board. Really showcases all corners of Japan, this one.

And I loved how they included the Tatsuya chef and digitalized the real-life celebrity, that was a nice touch. Which further works for that "showcasing of locality", same as with famous vistas. Yakuza series included famous traditional food, but in this game they built on that with those subquests about local dishes:

Nice national heritage placement!

And another thing that I liked in this game more than previous ones is that it is closer to later Kiwami games in terms of them adding more whimsical side-stories. Yakuza 4, for example, had that fighter maker or hostess maker, more typical ones, but Yakuza 5 has a more insightful taxi game for Kiryu. Or Taiga is all "there is a traitor in the clan! But now I better go hunt some bears."

And they actually made him sing this time! Taga did not sing in Yakuza 4 karaoke, being escaped convict and all, but they made it mandatory for him to sing in this one when he goes on an imaginary date.

I could not perfect score it, I was laughing at his mannerisms. But he himself actually sings quite well if you choose other songs, but when he has to provide accompaniment, he seems to have more fun.

[ZaidH]

Yakuza 4 walked so Yakuza 5 could run😁I love that Y5 does the same for Y0 by the laying the foundation for insanely fun minigames and the whimsical side quests like you mentioned.

And I loved how they included the Tatsuya chef and digitalized the real-life celebrity, that was a nice touch. Which further works for that "showcasing of locality", same as with famous vistas

Video game devs, please take notes from this👆It's so much better than those forced cameos and adverts in games like FFXV and Death Stranding😆

LMAO Rouge of Love had me in shambles😂It's so clever how they used this song (and many others) to showcase our MCs character development.

Speaking of MC, there's one character which I didn't really enjoy. It'll be interesting to read your thoughts on their storyline.