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[jdstorm]

You are not talking about Akiyama right? RIGHT?

Please tell me you are not comparing Akiyama to Snow... please...

And to your first question, yes there is one side quest that we see more of her in it if I'm not mistaken. I don't remember how you get it though.

Definitely not. Akiyama as a character is great. I found his kicks only fighting style a bit tedious. It never quite clicked, but even with fighting being not as fun as the others he's probably my favourite MC so far.

Shinada however can go hang out somewhere where all other horrible video game characters go.

Edit: if Akiyama was a FF character he'd be a Balthier (FFXII) or Edgar (FFVI). He's just so effortlessly cool.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Definitely not. Akiyama as a character is great. I found his kicks only fighting style a bit tedious. It never quite clicked, but even with fighting being not as fun as the others he's probably my favourite MC so far.

Shinada however can go hang out somewhere where all other horrible video game characters go.

Edit: if Akiyama was a FF character he'd be a Balthier (FFXII) or Edgar (FFVI). He's just so effortlessly cool.

Phew. Thank God, man. I was pretty shocked when I thought you had compared him to Snow, hahaha.

I actually like his fighting style. It might not be as divers as Kiryu's but his air combos are very sick and I love how he can grab punks get in their faces and trash talk them. Though, I also like Sanji from One Piece who is another character that only uses kicks to fight, so it might be a preference thing. I just can't help but think that their fighting style says something like "I'm so better than you that I won't even need to use my hands" and that's really cool and badass.

 

[ShadowgeistX]

Shinada however can go hang out somewhere where all other horrible video game characters go.

Should've played Yakuza 4 first. Tanimura is awesome in that game. Then they replaced him with Shinada for 5 and it ends up being the worst chapter in the game. His play style is terrible, his story is boring, and he barely even matters in the overall story.

 

[IrishNinja]

Shinada may not be the most fun combat-wise, but his story is actually great, and the moneylender dude really becomes some solid supporting cast...not sure what some of ya'll are on about.

 

[Aki-at]

I love Shinada, as a character I enjoy him a lot more than Tanimura. Gameplay wise is another matter but no one is as fun as kicking heads with Kiryu for me.

 

[LAM09]

Loved the ending of the first chapter.

 

[Jimrpg]

Still playing - PT 3, Ch 3.

Spoiler

Haruka's section was fun as a distraction at first, but it was still way too long. I think it would have been better, if she was an optional character in this, especially given that she can't fight. Plus her story arc seemed to be completely setup for the death of Park. The payoff is good, but the length it went to get there wasn't. Hoping that the end of PT3, and PT4 will save this game, but this is looking like the most disappointing game in the series. I can't help but think they were overly ambitious with the game, trying to split it into five cities and making the game twice as long as previous games. Perhaps the side missions and games are the difference, but at 40-50 hrs, I might just move on and play something else when I'm done.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Since this is the most recent thread on Yakuza, I guess I'll as this here. I have Yakuza 1, 3,4, and 5. I started with Yakuza 1 and am enjoying it, but Yakuza 2 is insanely expensive and hard to find. Think it's ok to skip 2 and just watch the recap in Yakuza 3?

 

[Shadowman16]

Since this is the most recent thread on Yakuza, I guess I'll as this here. I have Yakuza 1, 3,4, and 5. I started with Yakuza 1 and am enjoying it, but Yakuza 2 is insanely expensive and hard to find. Think it's ok to skip 2 and just watch the recap in Yakuza 3?

Yes and no. Yes you'll get the gist of the story from the recap, but 2 features the best antagonist in the series history, so you'll technically be missing out on some of the best fights the series has to offer.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Yes and no. Yes you'll get the gist of the story from the recap, but 2 features the best antagonist in the series history, so you'll technically be missing out on some of the best fights the series has to offer.

Is it worth paying $80+ for the game in order to see those fights?

 

[cchum]

oops, Yakuza seems cool too

 

[Jimrpg]

Is it worth paying $80+ for the game in order to see those fights?

In my opinion, you're fine to play all the Yakuzas you have first, and if you're still wanting more Yakuza pick up 2 at the end.

The Yakuza games generally have their own self contained story in each game, but there are recurring characters and some information from past games but its not necessary to enjoy the titles.

By the time you play 1 + 3, you won't be missing much for 4 or 5.

Number 2 is also a very old PS2 game that is low res and lacks detail. I might try to run it through the PS2 emulator to see if it can clean up the image a bit better.

 

[Shadowman16]

Is it worth paying $80+ for the game in order to see those fights?

All depends on if your happy paying that much money to play one game. For me - heck yeah its worth it - its got the best antagonist, some other really awesome and varied fights (Tigers!), the best love interest in the series (or in pretty much any game in my opinion), and its just a dramatic improvement over the first game in every way.

However, you could just as easy play the later games instead and go back if you ever feel the need. While Yakuza 2 does have a few plot points here and there that are followed up in 3, you won't really be missing much of the story by not playing it. I'd probably recommend NOT watching the recap initially, just in case you do go back and get 2 at any stage you won't have had the story ruined for you, but its up to you.

 

[Aenima]

Shinada may not be the most fun combat-wise, but his story is actually great, and the moneylender dude really becomes some solid supporting cast...not sure what some of ya'll are on about.

Yup, from the cast is the character i enjoyed less because his strange fight style, but his story was actually good. The story of the other characters merge way better. Its like Shinada story is a nice stand alone one. And yes, still today every time i see the name Shinada i hear it in the Money Loaner voice calling him Shinadaaaaaa! Such a great support character.

Akiyama has actually a very weak story in Yakuza 5 compared to Yakuza 4 where he standed out so much more and has an amazing story. But he is my favorith charater not counting with Kiryu.

 

[Shadowman16]

Akiyama has actually a very weak story in Yakuza 5 compared to Yakuza 4 where he standed out so much more and has an amazing story. But he is my favorith charater not counting with Kiryu.

Yeah, I'm still a tad annoyed that Akiyama got so little screen time compared to the rest of the cast in Yakuza 5, sharing a chapter with Haruka was a bit disappointing, as I'd have loved for him to get more character development.
That said, I did really like the way they ended his story at the end of 5, so I really hope he gets to take center stage in Yakuza 7.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Since this is the most recent thread on Yakuza, I guess I'll as this here. I have Yakuza 1, 3,4, and 5. I started with Yakuza 1 and am enjoying it, but Yakuza 2 is insanely expensive and hard to find. Think it's ok to skip 2 and just watch the recap in Yakuza 3?

I did the exact same thing and had no problem following the story from 3 and onward.

Honestly, I don't even remember anything about Yakuza 2 recap that I watched back then so if they ever did a remake for it I should be able to easily enjoy the game and its story.

Yeah, I'm still a tad annoyed that Akiyama got so little screen time compared to the rest of the cast in Yakuza 5, sharing a chapter with Haruka was a bit disappointing, as I'd have loved for him to get more character development.
That said, I did really like the way they ended his story at the end of 5, so I really hope he gets to take center stage in Yakuza 7.

Yep. I thought that was super cool. Really hope we see more of him (from after those events) in Yakuza 6.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Thanks for all the responses guys, I think I will just stick with what I have and buy Yakuza 2 later if I feel the need. The passion fans have for the series really convinced me to give it a try, and this thread is just another example of that .

 

[joeblow]

My first entry into the series was Yakuza 4, which took me 80 hours to beat five years ago with nearly 50% of the content done.

Looking at my old write-up about the game, I seemed to have loved it except for the easy combat. I played it on the hardest setting while choosing not to make weapons or armor, and limited my use of health power-ups. Battles were still extremely easy.

I also have Y5 from PS+, and I wonder if I should give it a go. I know I'll enjoy the story and variety of activities, but how tough is the combat this time around? Is it noticeably more difficult than Y4? If not, I may pass on it.

 

[Jimrpg]

My first entry into the series was Yakuza 4, which took me 80 hours to beat five years ago with nearly 50% of the content done.

Looking at my old write-up about the game, I seemed to have loved it except for the easy combat. I played it on the hardest setting while choosing not to make weapons or armor, and limited my use of health power-ups. Battles were still extremely easy.

I also have Y5 from PS+, and I wonder if I should give it a go. I know I'll enjoy the story and variety of activities, but how tough is the combat this time around? Is it noticeably more difficult than Y4? If not, I may pass on it.

Perhaps someone who played Y5 on the harder difficulties can answer your question better, but on normal difficulty I'm finding Y5 to be more or less the same as Y4, 20 hours in.

I found that Y4 aside from a couple of difficult battles at the end of the game super easy.

 

[Shadowman16]

Yakuza 5 is harder than 4 on normal difficulty, but its still too easy. Playing on Hard mode is better, but it still should be harder for a "hard" mode. There are items you can equip that makes enemies more aggressive, and that in turn drives the difficulty up to where I'd want it to be, but I'd have rather not used items to just get a decent challenge out of the game.

0, Ishin and Kiwami at least fix that problem, enemies are more powerful and aggressive as standard so those games feel more challenging from the get go (in Ishin's case its actually too hard on hard mode in the beginning, you'll need to level up to stop the game from kicking your ass!)

 

[jdstorm]

My first entry into the series was Yakuza 4, which took me 80 hours to beat five years ago with nearly 50% of the content done.

Looking at my old write-up about the game, I seemed to have loved it except for the easy combat. I played it on the hardest setting while choosing not to make weapons or armor, and limited my use of health power-ups. Battles were still extremely easy.

I also have Y5 from PS+, and I wonder if I should give it a go. I know I'll enjoy the story and variety of activities, but how tough is the combat this time around? Is it noticeably more difficult than Y4? If not, I may pass on it.

Sorry, I can't help with that. However if it's going to be easy anyway, I'd suggest just playing it on EASY. That way you get to go in with lowered expectations, and the game will cause you less trouble.

Not sure if this is true or not, but it seems like the level scaling in this game makes it much more fun(and slightly more difficult) as your player level increases. Another suggestion I'd make is that you do the skill tree leveling manually and manipulate it for the experience that you want

 

[jdstorm]

Update. Finished up to chapter 5 part 1 last night.

Chapter 4 was ultimately a bit of a letdown, outside of that Rocky 3 moment about halfway through. The ending especially feels like it's wasted in a cutscene/QTE after the game introduces all the mechanics required to make it actual gameplay in a mandatory sidequest.

only chapter 5 to go now and it's so far so good.

 

[jdstorm]

Just finished the game. Overall it was a really good experience. Akiyama is really great, and most of the rest of the cast grow on you.

The fighting mechanics were solid, but I think I encountered a bug where Kyrio's power bar wasn't charging for most of the finale chapter. Luckily it was on easy so the encounters went smoothly. The fighting system never quite clicked but I feel like with a bit more Effort in learning it, it would have been great.

Overall I finished in 27 hours with quite a few cut scene skips. Now back to the rest of my backlog

 

[Vic_Viper]

Is this still free on PS+? Going to be so possed if I missed it!

 

[Shoeless]

Is this still free on PS+? Going to be so possed if I missed it!

Unfortunately, you did miss it. It was the August PS+ game. We're already into the middle of September.

 

[xezuru]

Just finished the game for the first time and it's a great game, ultimately I think it's in the bottom of the rank for me personally in the series (at least in mainline game loool), but that only shows how great the series is. The story scenarios are probably what disappointed me most in this particular game but it has great ideas on stuff like how they progress the combat system and how deep they get into side systems. All in all although it has gotten a bit rough it's still a great game and its features and promise just make me fuckin insanely hype for Yakuza 0.

 

[Holundrian]

Losing my mind on trying to get pachinko completion....

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

I still have 3 unopened for ps3.
Is that a good place to start?
Im afraid if i do 1 and 2 will then be remastered or some shit.

 

[xezuru]

I still have 3 unopened for ps3.
Is that a good place to start?
Im afraid if i do 1 and 2 will then be remastered or some shit.

I hiiiighly hiiiiiiiiighly reccomend buying 1&2 and starting with those, 2 is personally my favorite in the series and if you are fully unable to get the originals I would suggest waiting and seeing for now. Yakuza Kiwami is out in Japan and is Yakuza 1 remade in the PS3/PS4 engine they used in Yakuza 0. We don't know if this is getting localized but Yakuza 0 is coming out soon in the US and saves literally port from 0 to Kiwami so there's hope if it's successful to have a really amazing starting point for the series. That said, VERY WORST cast scenario, Yakuza 3 does have a Reminiscence option to go over a full breakdown of previous games story.

 

[Triteon]

Well crap.
Its a boring wet afternoon here and I was in the mood to pick up V. I connected the PS3 and...nothing it wont boot up, it just beeps at me.

Goddamn it, now I need to pick up a new PS3.

 

[poodaddy]

I absolutely adored the game, but goddamn it's huge man. I mean that's good and all ya know, more content and all that, but no matter how much I love Yakuza games I always welcome the end when it comes.

Then I play a Yakuza game again in a month because I feel an immense urge to return to it. It's a vicious cycle.

 

[Phoenix944]

I was just wondering if I should go back to Yakuza 5, never finished it because I lost my 60h+ savedata...
I was near the end I think (finished each character's arc)

 

[poodaddy]

I was just wondering if I should go back to Yakuza 5, never finished it because I lost my 60h+ savedata...
I was near the end I think (finished each character's arc)

Dude that completely sucks, how'd you lose it? I wouldn't blame you for not going back but the ending is pretty great. In your case I'd say just look it up as you already beat the best parts and experienced the best parts of the story.

 

[Holundrian]

Goddamn it I love this game but man the Platinum feels like a giant "how much can you take" trial showcasing the most poorly designed stuff it has to offer.
I made it through all the minigames for 100% completion so what I've left are the Ultimate battles and the Colosseum.

And both are kind of infuriating. Colosseum being for one a grindfest but more importantly just being so poorly balanced for Akiyama with some enemies there just being immune to parts of his moveset and being immune to combo chains.

But what just really set me off is the Ultimate battle where you have to defeat 3 enemies with Shinada only using weapon draw moves with a time limit.
Like seriously who thought that would be a fun idea.