General Gaming Talk to me about the Yakuza series.

[gamer.tv]

For those that do not frequent the "what you playing" thread, you'll not know that I've recently bought, and played, Yakuza 0. I've never played a game in the series and the most I've looked into it has been a Giant Bomb Quick Look about...five year ago. 

 

I'm aware that it's popular both in Asia and in the wider world and that it involved (shockingly) the Yakuza, some strong story telling and a beat 'em up approach to gameplay. 

 

I've just finished the 4th chapter and I still can't tell whether I'm enjoying the game or not. The story has been interesting (and plenty of twists), the combat is enjoyable if a little bit easy at the moment, but I don't know whether the loop is that amazing. I keep finding myself going back to play more, but I'm not sure if I'm actually enjoying the game, or if it I just have a need to finish something that I've started. For those that have played Zero, are invested in the series, or not, what do you make of it and what are it's draws?

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I really wanted to get into the series, so I bought 0 and played a few hours, but I just struggled with it. I put in about 10 hours over the course of a couple months, but I couldn't stick with it.

 

I know a lot of people here love the series, though. I wish I did, because on paper, it seems like it'd be right up my alley. But it usually just felt like a chore.

[XxEvil AshxX]

I've only played Yakuza Kiwami so far, but I started Yakuza 0 on gamepass and after watching them talk for 20 minutes, walking for five seconds, and then watching another 15 minute conversation, I just turned it off.

 

I do want to go back to it someday, but... fuck....

[Brian]

A mixture of story, characters (especially bad guys), beatem up combat, fun side stories, and Japanese culture are reasons why I enjoy the series. It definitely has some pacing issues where if you follow the main storyline only, it will be a ton of cutscenes between small combat sections which a ton of Japanese games suffer from.  Back in 2006, this formula didn’t feel as archaic as it does now but if you been playing since the beginning you just accept it’s the Yakuza formula. 
 

Zero has the best combat and mini-game (cabaret club) so if you are not liking those parts, it may not be a series for you.

[chakoo]

It's a fun brawler wrapped in a japanese crime drama. While the series started out on the PS2 some of the games roots can be dated back to sega arcade days with the likes of Spikeout.  The series sometimes tries to have a serious tone to its story but the only games that really kept to that were 1 & 2 with the rest of the series kind of going off the deep end at times. The games also have a sizable amount of content with core game taking about 30h but can easily pad out to 50+ if you do a lot of the side stuff. 

 

Over all the games are just zany fun if you like a brawler and are willing to go exploring. If Zero doesn't capture you then the rest of the series wont. 

 

Also skip Dead Souls.

 

As for which ones I've played. I've played 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, Black Panther 1 & 2, Kenzan & Dead Souls. I've got on my backlog Judgement & Lost Paradise. I still need to pick up 0, 5, Inshin & the kawami remakes.

[DarkStar189]

I wish I would go back and finish the game. Just feel like I don't have the time for it. Im probably 8 hours in and I like it, but most of my game playing these days is at night and I end up getting too tired. 

[chakoo]

6 minutes ago, DarkStar189 said:

I wish I would go back and finish the game. Just feel like I don't have the time for it. Im probably 8 hours in and I like it, but most of my game playing these days is at night and I end up getting too tired. 

It's a fantastic game for that. When you get tired you can always just go to Club Sega to burn off some steam with classic arcade games. I've found myself sometimes booting up 6 so I can go play Virtua Fighter.

[Keyser_Soze]

It's like Shenmue if it was good.

[maddux4163]

It’s shenmue except, you don’t ask everyone about sailors. 

 

Also the mini games are awesome 

[stepee]

No.

[eggydoo]

Yakuza games are my chill game.  I enjoy the zanyness of the game.  The silly side quests and mini games are my favorite.  I feel it's all about the mini games for me.  The food on display in the game also makes me crave Japanese food.