Yakuza series

[Yama]

I played through the main storyline of Yakuza 0 last week and enjoyed it a lot, despite only understanding about 15% of what was going on. Can't wait until it comes out in English so I can give it another go-through and fully appreciate it and do more of the side quests.

Yeah, that game looks great. I'm happy to see it's being localized, definitely a day one purchase. All signs point to bringing these older titles out over here so Yakuza 6 can be properly released in the west. It'll be nice to finally see a new engine, I think that alone will help sales.

[Monkei]

21,5 hours playtime. I finally got through part 3 and started part 4, so I'm in chapter 1 of part 4 now. And man, I'm glad I can see the light at the end. Fuck Haruka. The cool moments are still there and kinda make up for sitting through so much crap, but man.
Those dialogues are long. And there are a lot of them. A lot. And they are dumb. The main characters ask dumb questions. Dumb questions that lead to annoying NPCs talking more of the same bullshit they've just been saying and repeating themselves thrice, explaining stuff six times that you already understood after the first word, or even before it.
And people keep getting shot without dying. Just stick to fistfighting and using bikes for weapons then, if nobody can use a gun. Fake deaths for shock value, so lame.
And the cheesyness, jesus. Her dream is now her dream, and also my dream, so I have to fight for that dream to come true, because everyone needs a dream - jesus fucking christ, lawd hammurcy on me. Why am I doing this to myself.

[OL]

Yeah, Haruka's is the one part of the game I'm dreading a little... I had fun with Kazuma, I'm enjoying Saejima's chapter (even though it's a little plodding and feels unnecessary so far), I know I'll have fun with Akiyama, and I'm really intrigued by the baseball player... but I'm generally turned right off by cheesy, sugary J-pop related stuff, so I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I'll have to play as Haruka to proceed.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Trust me, Haruka's side stuff is a ton of fun, especially if you go into it with low expectations (like myself).

Shinada is fun, OL, but for my tastes, he was the weakest of all the characters, probably due to the fact that his story, while excellent, has little to nothing to do with the actual plot... But I had a blast with all of the characters.

As for 0, again, I put it as 3rd best, after 5 and 3; its an AMAZING title, one of the best games of 205 by far, if not the best.

[south carmain]

I found haruka's story to drag on a little but it was a nice break from the rest of the game.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

I found haruka's story to drag on a little

Surely that would be Kazuma's?

I'll get my coat.

[Riku Rose]

I just started Haruka's part last night and I just hope it isn't as long as the others... It's not terrible but I can imagine the rhythm game will get boring after awhile.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Saejima's story as the first and second part felt like it dragged on a little too much. I didn't mind the prison section in Yakuza 4 like some (The shootout scene for one is amazing) but this one just felt like it was wasting time for some reason. There have actually been a few scenes that feel like they've gone on 5 minutes longer then they need to. There was actually a scene before the last fight in Saejima's story that was 5 minutes of a character saying he was going to tell you something without actually saying it.

There are other things like I don't think I need to be told about revelations anymore which you could solve when you start the game by clicking an option saying you've played the series before.

I stil thought Kazuma's story was pretty awesome though and it didn't feel so much like they was trying to kill time.

[Monkei]

After finishing chapters one and two of Part 4: Shinada I've gotta say I like the characters, humour and general story here the best out of what I've played so far. Feels refreshing.

Stlll got the melody of one of those Haruka songs stuck in my head for some reason. Were there even different songs?

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Haruka sings Konnan Jyanai (sp?), Loneliness Loop and something else lol.

The song used for one of the street battles (Comin' at ya, My Girl) is a cool track, though it sucks that its under 2 minutes.

[Monkei]

Yeah, that Konnan one. Got the melody of the chorus stuck in my head. That and "9 Million Bicycles" by Katie Melua, which I haven't heard in years. Don't know why my brain is doing this to me.

Edit: This looks effing great. In a game looking like that (and hopefully feeling more modern than 5) I might actually get interested in doing all the crazy side stuff.

phpBB [video]

[Truck_1_0_1_]

I pre-ordered Kiwami the day it came out.

I was always leery about playing an entirely Japanese game without a translation guide, but after playing 5, I had a blast and I still knew what was going on. As such, I'll never NOT get these titles when they are released; 1/21, can't wait!

[Monkei]

If you guys have finished Part 4 (Shinada) Chapter 3:

Isn't it awesome how shenmuey that part of the game was? Shinada's clothes (brownish jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans) in combination with looking for answers at a numbered warehouse? And then even a forklift shows up to chase you? One of the minor Nagoya goons was even called Fukuhara. Which made punching him even more satisfying.

After about 30 hours I'm at the beginning of Finale: Chapter 4 now, which should be the final chapter of the game. I've really enjoyed Shinada's chapter and what I've played of the finale so far. Except

there's the aforementioned (extremely!) bad shooting and fake killing with useless guns again

, which is just really, really "ugh".

[south carmain]

I was gonna try to platinum this but after over a hundred hours in and learning that you need to get 100% completion to do so I think I'm gonna pass.

[OL]

I really hate to say it (because this has never happened to me with this series), but I've dropped off from playing Yakuza 5 a bit. Haven't played any more in quite a while now. And it's not about being burnt out on the series, or even the game itself necessarily... I'm just bored with Saejima's chapter. I spent a lot of time on the hunting parts, thinking that was going to be the bulk of it, but now I'm wandering around Hokkaido. And it's a nice environment and everything (love the snowy Christmas atmosphere), but holy shit, the main storyline for him really does feel like a bunch of random side-mission junk. I mean, seriously, talk about busy-work.
"You have to get into a gambling room. So go see this guy for the password. He'll tel you to go to the lottery booths. They'll tell you to find a specific payphone. Answer the phone and you get the password. Use the password to get into the gambling room, fight three guys with barely any story progression, then go somewhere else."
Holy good goddamn fucking blaaaaaaaah. I didn't have this problem playing as Kazuma at all, but it feels like the entirety of Saejima's chapter is just game-padding. I'm still excited as hell to see the rest of the game, but Saejima's entire chapter just drags along at a snail's pace, so I'm having trouble getting back into it. And it's too bad, because I actually enjoyed the scenes while he was stuck in prison.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Now that you're there in the town, you're almost at the end of Saejima's section. It's much shorter than the mountain portion, so you may as well stick with it. You've got all the fun of Haruka's rhythm action QTEs to follow...!