[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

Today is Japan Culture Day, and there is no day better to make a post about Yakuza games! Thanks go out to @ZaidH for inspiring this topic, and this is my attempt to gather all fans of this series in one place!

And it is an awesome one with a rich and interesting history of development. You can check some of it, and some of the songs, too, in this thread by @M2lobaz, but the series is much more than that!

Started as a SONY PS exclusive, it was later ported to PC, and in an interesting way: currently, there are 8 parts to the game, organised as parts 1-5, then 0 that serves as a prequel, then 6 and after that Yakuza: Like a Dragon, technically part 7, but this part got a new protagonist, as well (yes, Yakuza series did a lot of interesting changes and experiments like that). And that's not counting spinoffs!

Now, when it was ported to PC, parts 1 and 2 got full remakes with a new engine, mechanics, quests, etc, almost brand new games. The engine was taken from Yakuza 0 and the remakes got the subtitle Kiwami. But parts 3-5 only got a slight graphic improvement and the label "Remastered", so the visual quality of the game varies.

And graphics is important in this game because so long as we're talking modern Japan, this series has so much atmosphere you can eat it with a spoon. Check it out:

If you can't go to Japan just yet, then playing this game is the next best thing! And there are many videos on YT comparing game locations with real places, too:

Virtual tourism at its best!

But visuals alone, of course, are not enough to make a great game. Thankfully, this series is very well made, with a decent story, amusing and whacky subquests, and generally manages very well to portray the underground world of Japan mafia walking a thin line between drama and whimsy, which is not an easy feat!

And there is a lot more to be said about it, about characters, and minigames, and attention to detail, but I do not want to reveal all gems of this series, and this would turn out into a very long post indeed if I tried. So the floor s yours! Have you played this game? If so, share how you liked it! If not, try it, and then share how you liked it (if you like RPGs, that is)! Or if you can't decide if you want to try it, you can ask your questions here!

Either way, it is a series worth talking about. So what say you?

[DoctorEldritch]

And I just can't stop. @ZaidH, since last we talked about this game, I am now at part 2 of game 4. Just finished the Akiyama part, finally (Yakuza 4 has 4 protagonists, this is one of the experiments the series is known for).

Took a bit of time to complete all those hostess-making challenges. This series is great, but some mechanics in those Remastered games were really left unpolished a bit, this hostess-making takes so much time and repetition. But now it's done and I can finally move with the story, that is, until Saejima will need to train his fighters 😅

But this is a slight criticism. Some things could be better, of course, as is usually the case with any game, but even like this the game is well worth playing.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch One couldn't have asked for a better thread than this to introduce people to the Yakuza series! A thread befitting the Dragon of Dojima😤Thank you so much for creating this informative post😁

I'm just mind-blown by the details in the videos that you linked. I mostly focus on going from point A to B, so I overlooked some of these assets that the devs have so masterfully crafted. Official VR support when 👀 That bit about Sotenbori having a modern waterfront in Y5 vs the pre-development Sotenbori one in Y0 is just amazing. +1 Japan knowledge on Japan Culture day😄

Oh wow, that's some nice progress you're making in Yakuza 4! And yeah I wish they streamlined some of the activities. I pray to the savefile gods that your progress doesn't get corrupt again. Where does the uber-charismatic Shun Akiyama rank on your fav Yakuza character list?

For the folks wanting to get into the Yakuza series, I highly recommend that you watch this Yakuza 0 impression video. It highlights both the wacky and the serious storytelling aspects of the series so well. The video that got me into the Yakuza series😄

[M2lobaz]

@DoctorEldritch @ZaidH
Your discussion encouraged me to dig deeper about Yakuza, To see what that circle is offering, Yet I've zero experience with Yakuza franchise.

[DoctorEldritch]

@M2lobaz It is a real treat, but I am a bit worried about that being an RPG. It is a very good one, and very...I want to say immersive, but RPG elements are strong. After you mentioned your view on RPGs in our Gotham Knights discussion, I want to give you a heads-up about it.

But it is still well worth digging into!

[M2lobaz]

@DoctorEldritch
Thanks for the hint, a little bit of youtube may give me a bigger image of what I'm going into.

[DoctorEldritch]

@M2lobaz Then a bit of warning: beware of spoilers. These games have some decent (if not consistent) plots and submissions are actually mostly well-made and interesting, some are quite funny, too, so if you turn to YT, just keep it in mind if spoilers are something you want to avoid.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Thank you, this game deserves its own thread!

And yes, the amount of work that went into the game is really exceptional, very few games have that level of attention to detail. Very meticulous in a very good way, on par with Japan itself!

And it is impressive how they play on that in the series as well! For example, chronologically (real-world chronology) Yakuza 1 and 2 Kiwami came after Yakuza 0, so when they were working on those remakes, they left some reverse hints. When you play Yakuza 0, as a proper sequel, it opens up new sides of familiar characters, but in this case, it also works in reverse: when you play Kiwami games, they have references to Yakuza 0 that you do not know yet if you play the games in proper sequence.

Even more than that, they put quest easter eggs in Kiwami games, too. One of the substories, for example, asks Kiryu to recall different trivia about Japan in the 80s. A hard task for those who have not lived there in that period or did not study Japan of that era, but if you've played Yakuza 0 before that, then you'll know most of those. This is the level of inter-game connections I can get behind!

I am at the end of the Taiga part now, just need to finish making fighters in the dojo and then I need to win all the Colesium fights (and have a showdown with Majima, of course) before I move on to Part 3. As soon as I am there, that'll be the place where I was cut off last time, so I'll finally start moving forward. Thank you for your concern about my saves, I am hoping the second time is the charm! Though better I backup them just in case.

About Shun Akiyama...I am not sure, I have not tried Tanimura yet, and Yakuza 5 and 6 will have their own protagonists to try. So far, I want to say that Kiryu is the best one (of course), then my second place goes to Majima for that Joker charm of his. Then place three is for Rikiya Shimabukuro from Yakuza 3 (and they nailed the Okinawa accent for him), and Shun Akiyama would take the 5th place. The 5th because, although he is uber-charismatic, as you said, but Hana-chan is the boss!

Have not seen that video, thank you for it. I am more of a visual receiver than an audio one, so those comparison videos really impressed me, but it is refreshing to hear people appreciating the series even without visual elements to it, that was novel for me.

[ZaidH]

@M2lobaz I'm so happy that you decided to look more into the Yakuza games😁Here's hoping that your research ends up in you being converted into a Yakuza fan. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions related to this series if you have any😄

@DoctorEldritch I couldn't agree more with you about the interconnectedness in these games. My personal fav instance of this is the Pocket Circuit Fighter dude. Even though he was introduced in Yakuza 0, his story was seamlessly integrated in Yakuza Kiwami. Love that the devs keep the core story intact, but experiment around with the side quests by using these well executed call-outs.

Ah the coliseum😯Tbh, I wasn't a big fan of that part, but man was Saejima's speech at the end of it oh so worth it. Looking forward to reading your impressions of Tanimura's story.

Rikiya! Now that's a name I'm reading after a long time. He's the definition of a true bro. My fav character list is pretty much identical to yours, except I had Kuze from Yakuza 0 in the 3rd place😄And yes! Hana-chan is the best! Up there with Reina in terms of courage😁

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Let's hope @M2lobaz gets inspired!

I know that Pocket Circuit Fighter also appears in Yakuza 6, so he seems to make it all the way through. I'll look forward to checking him out in Yakuza 0 then, I am playing the games as they came out 1-5, then 0, then 6.

And I've made some good progress over the weekend, I am now at Kiryu Part 4, need to go and save Taiga from the construction site next, but before that, I am tieing loose ends like finishing the gangs and getting on with all the hostesses. This is because my style of the playthrough is very meticulous, I am doing all the sidequests and extra activities just as they appear before moving on with the main story. And I am collecting all those Completion prizes, too, except for Minigames and Heat Actions. I like completing things, but those are too much.

The coliseum I do not particularly like either, I am mostly doing it for the Completion list and for money and XP. Saejima's speech was very moving, true. I won everything I could win with him already after that, so now it's Kiryu's turn. Gotta practice those Tiger Drops!

About Tanimura, well...it depends if we played the same Tanimura. When playing Yakuza games, I have to admit I am using 2 sets of mods. As I mentioned when we were talking about music in Yakuza games, Sony removed some tunes later on. However, some fans understandably did not like that and made a mod that restored them, so I usually use that as well, for a more "original" experience. But with Yakuza 4 and the whole Tanimura actor debacle, sony changed how Tanimura looks and sounds:

I used this mod to bring back the music and his original looks. So not sure we played with the "same" Tanimura.

As far as his character, he was fine, but I sort of feel like they were setting him up for more, a bigger role like they then did with Taiga and Shun, but because of that whole actor business it never came to be. Because his background and perspective and ties to China and Korea and subtle references to triades were sort of setting a stage for some future yakuza vs. triad conflict, but oh well. Instead, we got Tatsuo Shinada in part 5, but I'll get back to you about how I like him.

Rikiya was such a good character, it was the saddest moment for me in the series so far what happened to him. But illustrates the perils of the Yakuza world beautifully. Kuze I am still to get to know. Reina...she was courageous, but foolish when in love. But her story is more relatable this way, I guess.