Yakuza

yeah, but you need a super beefy machine to get playable frame rates

btw Sega has said that if Y3 sells well enough they'll consider bringing over Yakuza Kenzan (the one set in like 1885), so everyone buy like eight copies

I hope "well enough" is like 10,000 copies, because that's the game I really want to play (and Yakuza 3 is sure not to sell much, come on, not at sixty dollars, not with this packed AAA March). Also based on missing tropies from the western release of Yakuza 3, it seems a lot more than just the hostess club stuff has been cut, but also the japanese games like mahjong and shogi (and more). Kind of a bummer in 2010...

Also based on missing tropies from the western release of Yakuza 3, it seems a lot more than just the hostess club stuff has been cut, but also the japanese games like mahjong and shogi (and more). Kind of a bummer in 2010...

okay, THAT is a bummer; the insanely-fleshed-out minigames added a lot of flavor to Y2 even if I never actually beat any of them. I still remember flipping through like 10+ pages of tiny-ass text explaining how to play mahjongg; it was more imposing than most of the fights.

still preordering it since beating people's asses in Y2 is impossibly fun, though.

while I don't agree w/sega's decision I can understand their rationale and I don't think this is the wrong-headed idiocy that the internet wd have you believe

tht being said the hostess club content is interwoven throughout the game, losing that loses you a significant proportion of the non-combat experience. how many small events that enriched yakuza have now been lost because the hostess club backbone has been removed?

the qn is how many side missions dependent on the hostess club content have we lost? it has a domino effect.

if yakuza was just a fighting game I wouldn't be interested.

hopefully they leave it on the disc and then patch a translation in later.

it totally affects different threads throughout the game tho so presumably they'll have to remove those and insert other scenes; don't see tht happening myself jc

http://kotaku.com/5478862/sega-you-are-once-again-making-a-giant-mistake

I agree with his point but as with most Ashcraft articles, the only thing I end up taking away from it is that Brian Ashcraft should be dropped from a great height

it seems mr. ashcraft has missed the subtext of sega's 'you wouldn't get it, sugar' explanation: pretty sure they just couldn't afford to translate all the game (and have said as much in a subsequent statement iirc) - they had to cut something and decided this was the most non-essential portion of the game

The couldn't afford it explanation reeks of bullshit - honestly, how could it cost more to translate a few hundred lines (or whatever) of text compared to paying a programmer to take out those sections of code and reprogram the game to work w/o those sections?

that makes sense, I guess, iunno, sick of reading about this and discussing it by now tbf ;_;

can't stop reading the GAF thread on this, against my better judgement. must. stop.

2 lazy to google relevance but translation is iirc really expensive whereas deleting shit not so much. i mean idk anything abt how/what/how much has been cut but i can see that being both a) cheaper and b) quicker

i dont think is like snes ear nintendo i just think its sega rushing/doing the trans on the cheap *shrug* in the would i rather wait for the ~right~ version of the game vs getting the game at all/soon im usually predisposed to go with the latter

I agree with his point but as with most Ashcraft articles, the only thing I end up taking away from it is that Brian Ashcraft should be dropped from a great height

he is like the worst writer ever. i know i've mentioned it before, but also 85% of his articles for kotaku are creepy thnigs about japanese soft-porn actresses, he reminds me of that shiroi basket shoes guy with the creepy flickr page.

Finally started Yakuza 2 last night (and played for a little over an hour - is it always that long between save points? I think in the first one you could save at phone booths?) I know they did it to save money, but the decision to stick with the Japanese language track was the best thing to happen with this game - it really adds to the atmosphere. I was also surprised to actually be into the story (so far)... that just happens so rarely with games it's sort of shocking. On the negative side, the way the camera works in these games still kind of annoys me, especially in those awkward moments when you take a few steps and it has to load a new angle or whatever. And I still feel like the brawling in 3d is just a little more clunky then it should be - game would benefit from a Demon's Souls style lock-on maybe. Anyhow, definitely looking forward to playing some more over the weekend.

yeah, the story is surprisingly engaging and well written

that whole game is just such a treat. definitely going to place in my top 3 when we get around to the PS2 poll.

Here's a new, long trailer for Yakuza 4 (out in March in Japan, I think?), mostly focusing on the side games you can play in the game...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNd9HlQ_OwY

In Yakuza 2, I dig how there are so many different shops and places you can go in and do all kinds of crazy stuff, even though a lot of that stuff isn't very compelling, like all the different restaurants with 20-30 item menus or the super basic UFO catcher games in the arcade. It's just cool it's there, it's some of what was missing from GTA IV. I did get to a mahjong parlor, but got too intimidated looking through the massive instructions to even try to play the game (though I'd like to learn some day). Definitely not bothered if it got cut from 3 for the English re-release. Played a little blackjack though in the weird bummy hangout place, which was fun. Gotta figure out how to get back there. Still can't quite get used to the layout of the areas and navigating around is annoying (especially compared to recent GTA games, which are obviously much bigger). Also don't like the quick time events - they come up so fast they always catch me by surprise and I almost always fail. I've gotten used to the brawling though.

You dudes are really whetting my appetite for this game! Well, the first one.

didn't realise resonance of fate was sega too; life in the ol' dog yet

Hello, how can I help you sir?
I need to hire some hard ass motherfuckers, some guy called Kazuma has really pissed me off!
I think we can accomodate you sir.
Are their asses hard?
The hardest sir...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGkQTUQq3vQ

"...i just can't believe this is happening.... this is disgusting. I don't even think they're looking at the comments I'm posting! Fans are exploding! To me it's a kick in the balls!"

kohta-cue

i have hard time believing that vid is real & true in its emotions

james can you post a pic of the plaque you made

j/k what's that kid's deal anyway?

sooooooo....

yup, how is it?

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2010/02/yakuza-3-ruined-by-segas-stupidity.html

what a disaster for ps3

great but starts A LOT slower than Yakuza 2

missed opportunity not letting u play yakuza 2 as one of the mini-games

The most fun I've had doing chores for children ever.

yakuza 3 is massive, despite the cuts

this game is great but it doesn't half start v.slowly

and yeah I'd like to bonk a lady but I can hardly complain about cuts with only 2% complete after 5 hours played ^^;

Surprising news!

http://blogs.sega.com/europe/2010/06/08/iamkazuma/#more-2366

Huh! I guess 3 did all right over here.

good news

bring on the kenzan

We’d also like to confirm what we feel is important news for our fans: the Hostess Clubs will be returning in Yakuza 4!

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/06/11/yakuza-4-coming-exclusively-to-ps3-in-spring-2011/

I take full credit for this btw

but where's my parade

thanks cobo, appreciate it

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html

Of the three reviewers, only Kuroishi manages to play it all the way to the end. Two of the three are missing their pinkies — in the old days, when a yakuza or his subordinates screwed up, they chopped off pinkies as an act of atonement — and this seems to affect their gameplay.

Ironically, the sections that Shirokawa seemed to enjoy the most were cut out of the US version: mahjong, the sexual massage parlor, and the hostess clubs. After I explain to him what Sega cut from the US version, he said: アメリカ版を買った奴がかわいそうだ。セガＵＳＡが最低だね.(Translation: I feel sorry for the people who bought the American version. SEGA USA sucks.)

so the next Yakuza game is apparently going to be Yakuza + Left 4 Dead + Dead Rising and I want it

hahaha so desperate!

http://img.game.co.uk/images/content/SpecialEditions/Yakuza4.jpg

I never pre-order games at full price but I feel like I should make an exception for this. Played Yakuza 3 for hours, and still nowhere near doing all of it.

I broke down and got a British buddy to preorder one & mail it to me; for some reason GAME was being an ass and wouldn't let me place a preorder. all worth it for STEELBOOK~ though.

^^^ this just showed up! if anyone else in this stupid country gave a fuck about this magnificent series I would be a bragging-ass jamescobo right about now

need to go back to yakuza kiwami (after clearing silksong act 3) - was enjoying the early game though the enemies did seem quite tanky

xp I haven’t shipped Kiryu/Majima in forever but this game fed me

xp Kiwami is mad clunky cos it’s a remake of a ps2 game, Kiwami 2 has the new engine and is so much shinier

Replaying 0 and some thoughts:

- combat is so fucking clumsy now
- the skip function for conversations isn’t that good
- Tachibana/Makoto scene still horrific
- fuck Oda forever
- Sagawa really does look like a chimp huh
- Shimano casually eating all that fugu like it’s nothing is still an amazing scene
- omg fuck the Let’s Dance proxy song that is easily the hardest to get three stars on!!!!

I have no interest in the directors cut but this ruled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5E-R6NjMgk

so nice to see the lads again

Having fun with piratey adventures

I watched a youtube of some ppl I follow hanging out at the Mall of America and every frame made me think "Anaconda shopping center!". Dunno if the two are very alike or if I just haven't seen much footage of US malls from the last twenty years or so?

People have really turned on this franchise as of late.

Decent summation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os4D6cHFP9s

Personally I enjoyed Pirate Yakuza a lot, I knew going in that it would mostly be reused assets and not a "real" entry. Also disagree that it offers no good Majima character moments, tho tbf the best one is at the very end of the game.

The Yakuza 0 Switch2 thing seemed kinda weird but I don't own a Switch2 so didn't have to think about it much.

Kiwami 3 though...

It's still pretty playable, and the minigames are as fun as usual, but yeah it feels disrespectful towards the original in weird ways, the Okinawa flavour feels gone even though I can't fully explain it. Rikiya, previously rough and tumbble, salt of the earth type character, has been extensively yassified - I don't know enough about Okinawan/Japanese relations to provide a considered critique of this but I will say he now looks a hell of a lot paler than the Okinawans I met when I went there. He acts exactly the same and it just feels wrong.

Speaking of casting, obviously the biggest problem here is RGG hiring a known sex offender to get another celebrity voice. Particularly blatant to contrast it with them editing Pierre Taki out of Judgement just because he did coke. Yes yes I know drug offenses are viewed differently there but it's not like attitudes towards sexual harassment haven't been changing in Japan too.

Spoilers for the end of Kiwami 3 (which is diff than the original) : I didn't actually mind changing the ending because I feel like Kiryu getting killed-not-killed is such a trope. But Mine's long speech about how Kiryu is actually a killer, he just doesn't want to be and pretends to be a good dad guy knowing full well he'd be happier causing violence...it's just such absolute rubbish, that is not what Kiryu is, he loves his kids and he loves the peaceful life in Okinawa. Feels like it's been added to keep him as an underground superspy forever (they'll cure his cancer soon enough).

Then there's the Dark Ties part...pretty low effort but I did have fun with the conceit that you're basically going around doing good to make people believe Kanda's a good dude. Then at the end Mine becomes another Man Who Erased His Name and GODAMNIT RRG I do NOT care about your shitty espionage agency, stop making everything about that.

I'm not watching that but they're wrong whatever it says

I dunno man, I don't think they're wrong that hiring a sex offender is bad, or that on a less serious level of scumminess removing the remastered Yakuza 3 from the market so that the Kiwami can be the only option - despite the two games having major differences in story - is a dick move.

You know this is my all-time favourite franchise so I understand the defensiveness but.

Nah when I read your post back you're right, I just get defensive because sometimes a fanbase annoyingly nitpicks something I love. Persona fans are my other bugbear

definitely has the feeling like the people who are in charge at RGG now after nagoshi's departure want to retcon the series into their own image rather than moving on

yeesh. I've only finished 0 and dabbled in Like A Dragon. i think I'll just emulate the original game instead of starting the Kiwamis. This project sounds interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/comments/1d9m8id/yakuza_2_restored_for_ps2_is_out/

there's the same type of thing for 1 but i think I'll just play the original ... dubbed with Mark Hamill?

I recently started 0 and I have nothing really to add to this other than that it's a fun game!

The first two Kiwamis are divisive but nothing like the outrage around 3, I played and enjoyed them.

yeah they also have a functional reason to exist whereas 3 was already ported to modern platforms

Pleasantly surprised playing the original game - 5 or 6 chapters in. I was expecting a bigger step down from 0 in looks, combat, etc. Been a while since I finished 0 but I'm impressed how fully fleshed out 1 feels.