Why are the Yakuza games good?

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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tnc
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Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by tnc »

So I never played any Yakuza game and was considering playing them but why would I?
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Blinge
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

Try Zero. That seems a good starting point.

fun combat, decent story, amazing focus on sidequests. a lot of content and gameplay packed into a tiny little open world.
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tnc
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by tnc »

The gameplay is 90% combat right? The combat looks repetitive from the gameplay videos or am I missing someting?
Btw anyone enjoyed the last turn based rpg game?
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

Just watch this trailer and decide whether you wanna play or not from there
https://youtu.be/vng-2rETJK0

You asked what's good about them, I said what's good. I'm not interested in defending my opinion :|
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by cj iwakura »

Zero has a genuinely gripping, compelling story with lots of twists and turns, and countless fun activities to do on the side.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

I played only the first one on PS2, to completion. Found combat to be a bit of silly fun, but it grew old pretty soon. There are surely better TPP fighting games on that-gen (or even another gen) consoles.
In terms of what kind of experience it overall was to me, I'd say - middling between Xenoblade Chronicles and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (guess which one I liked best). I suspect FFXII, or maybe Steambot Chronicles to be in this vein, also (but haven't played either to any meaningful extent).
The good certainly were some production values (I didn't even mind English dub, Haruka was particularly well-voiced, about Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner level - a game whose combat I don't think much about, either) and story. All in all - not very exciting gameplay, but as an "interactive movie" of sorts - hardly awful.
tnc wrote:The combat looks repetitive from the gameplay videos or am I missing someting?
"Repetitive" is not my problem with it, it's the lack of ANY technique, such as Onimusha's issening, Crimson Tears' "chaining for loot" etc. that would be terribly exciting to perform. I can play a "repetitive" fighting game, "repetitive" car game and so on for hours and enjoy the repetition when it's got that spark the first Yakuza hasn't, for me.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

oh here we go..
Obi, Yak 1 isn't really relevant to any discussion about Yakuza anymore, especially not in the context of someone showing an interest in the series in the year 12021 HE...

It has been remade as the much better Yakuza Kiwami on PS4 anyway.
2 has received the same treatment.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

And what, in particular, is better about sequels'/remakes' combat? I saw folks raving about it as "the best beat 'em up ever" when it was new, so there obviously was market for it. I just did not see much to improve about what WAS there, combat-wise, although the game as a whole could use greater variety of fun activities, that I believe sequels did deliver. I have never seen anyone claim any iteration to have combat substantially superior to another's. It's not like anyone's exactly defending it here yet, is it?
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

Kiwami's combat uses the engine/systems they developed for Yakuza 0 which is apparently much better than the OG games.
I haven't played yak 1 on ps2, but it looks jank in a video I saw.
You've really limited the scope of conversation by just talking about the combat.

0, Kiwami 1 & 2 have that greater variety of fun activities I mentioned in my first post in the thread.


Again none of this is useful at all, if OP doesn't like the look of the trailer I posted, then he won't have an interest in the games and we can all leave and stop wasting our fucking time.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

I'll let OP be the judge of that.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by tnc »

Obiwanshinobi wrote:"Repetitive" is not my problem with it, it's the lack of ANY technique, such as Onimusha's issening, Crimson Tears' "chaining for loot" etc. that would be terribly exciting to perform. I can play a "repetitive" fighting game, "repetitive" car game and so on for hours and enjoy the repetition when it's got that spark the first Yakuza hasn't, for me.
Yes, I agree with this 100%. If the gameplay has depth the repetitiveness wouldn't be a problem.
Blinge wrote:Just watch this trailer and decide whether you wanna play or not from there
https://youtu.be/vng-2rETJK0
I'll try it and see if I'll enjoy, thank you.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

You know i had a bizarre experience when I visited Kabuki-cho in Toyko.

See the only Yakuza game I've played was Kiwami 1, and apparently it's not as good as its comtemporary Yak games.
I still enjoyed it.

But when I walked around that little district of Tokyo in real life, I knew the streets, the layout... almost perfectly. Because they've replicated it almost perfectly in the game. That was fucking WEIRD.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by drauch »

They're hilarious and the characters are great, but they are very cutscene heavy. That's the only real "warning" I'd give anyone.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Immryr »

from the couple i've played, the writing and characters in yakuza games are really good. they manage to keep a good balance between being serious and not taking themselves too seriously at the same time. the combat is enjoyable, if a little mindless, and there are millions of side activities you can distract yourself with if you're into that.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by BulletMagnet »

If you have an affinity for Japan's unique brand of over-the-top nonsense they're essential, no other games I've played quite manage to strike the same tone as Yakuza does. The rest of the experience has some issues, which vary somewhat depending on which game you're playing, but if you're down with the overall vibe they're almost always easy to overlook IMO. Presumably the flaws are less forgivable if the mood doesn't appeal to you, though.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Dochartaigh »

I gave Yakuza 0 a good long try (about 10-15 hours maybe), and found it to be pretty bad. You're in the same like 6 block or whatever area for the entire game it seems. Doing the same things over and over and over again, and having the same type of boring fights over and over and over again. Sold it quickly thereafter.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Marc »

If you don't like 0, you won't like any of them. TBH I'm not sure what it was that kept me playing - fighting is fun, but doesn't vary wildly, and I'm certainly not a fan of cut-scenes in gaming. I dunno, I found the whole OTT aspect actually working really well with the SERIOUS BUSINESS of the main storylines rather than jarring, the minigames are all huge fun.... it just has that something, That said, I played 0, Kimawi, and 6 in quick succession, abandoned Kiwami 2 maybe ten hours in, abandoned Judgement around 20, and probably won't ever play one again.

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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by MX7 »

They're great games but there are too many of them. The plot is pretty lacklustre and can summed up in broad strokes, and fighting is boring and stupid and luckily can be endured by putting it on easy mode and forgetting it exists. (these are opinions and not facts lol) None of this matters because they're a masterclass in videogame narrative, of pissing about, completing disparate side quests, of playing surprisingly in depth mini games and mapping Kamurucho indelibly into your mind. Yeah there's combat, but there's also revolting toilets and flickering neon lights and impossibly detailed corner shops to marvel at. My wife basically spent 40 hours playing the hostess club simulation in Zero, it was crazy. I can totally see them not being Someone's Thing but that just makes them more special.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by MX7 »

Blinge wrote:You know i had a bizarre experience when I visited Kabuki-cho in Toyko.

See the only Yakuza game I've played was Kiwami 1, and apparently it's not as good as its comtemporary Yak games.
I still enjoyed it.

But when I walked around that little district of Tokyo in real life, I knew the streets, the layout... almost perfectly. Because they've replicated it almost perfectly in the game. That was fucking WEIRD.
I had the opposite experience... In that I spent a week walking around Kabukicho, then played 0 about a year later and basically had already mapped the game in my head. I remember Kazuma Kaneko or someone else on a SMT3 doc saying "Tokyo is a dungeon" and there's something really special about having to mentally map every hyper compact shopping district or mall or subway Station or park in the hope of ever getting out again...
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by BulletMagnet »

MX7 wrote:I remember Kazuma Kaneko or someone else on a SMT3 doc saying "Tokyo is a dungeon" and there's something really special about having to mentally map every hyper compact shopping district or mall or subway Station or park in the hope of ever getting out again...
They need to ditch handing out pocket tissues and switch to graph paper.
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Re: Why are the Yakuza games good?

Post by Blinge »

Right, another thing that should be said

If you're trying to compare it to other games that pertain to organised crime, you're barking very very far up the wrong tree.
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