Yakuza/Like A Dragon Series Discussion Thread

[neogunhero]

Here is a discussion thread for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series of games. Yakuza started in 2005 as a series of PlayStation games, and has since grown internationally to become a very popular franchise. Arguably, it became more popular in the West with the releases of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami for PS4 in 2017, with Yakuza 0 coming to PC in 2018, subsequently followed by the rest of the series being ported over to PC in the following years. The PC releases of the franchise has pushed it to new heights of fandom, these days having a strong online presence especially in North America and Europe.

This thread is to discuss the games, our experiences playing them, as well as the upcoming Prime Video series releasing this upcoming October. Anything and everything Yakuza/Like A Dragon related is welcome here.

 

[neogunhero]

Currently playing through Yakuza 0. Just hit Chapter 7 and playing as Majima currently. Just unlocked the cabaret club side activities. I never done them before, but after reading up on it some, I may go in on it. You take over small cabaret clubs and have to hire hostesses and manage them to make your customers happy. It’s a great source of income, basically akin to Kiryu’s Real Estate Royale. Eventually in the game I’ll be able to switch between Kiryu and Majima so it may be worth investing a lot of time into both side businesses so I can max out their abilities. As for Real Estate Royale I’m doing about as good as you can up until this point in the story. As you progress in the main story you’re able to expand your real estate properties a lot more.

One cutscene last night was making me pretty sad. I’ll put it in spoilers.

Spoiler: Kiryu & Nishki

I got to the cutscene last night after Kiryu beats Kuze in the sewers. Kiryu is possibly one of my favorite fictional character ever, driven by a strong sense of honor and justice. He refuses to kill Kuze, even though he basically begs Kiryu to end his life when he had the chance to. After that fight, Kiryu climbs out of the sewer into a disco club where he confronts Awano. Awano threatens Kiryu to assist his family in the Yakuza, but Kiryu would rather let Awano rot in hell before he helps him hand over Tachibana and Kazuma, his mentor. As Kiryu steps out of the club, Nishki comes driving by and picks him up.

Nishki takes him to a remote part of the forest outside of Kamurocho, and almost kills Kiryu because he doesn’t want Kiryu to be tortured by the Yakuza for his actions. This cutscene really hits hard because you can tell how sad Nishki is for this whole situation. He doesn’t want to kill Kiryu, but believes it’s in the best interest for them both because he doesn’t want Kiryu to be tortured to the point of being on the brink of death, it’s quicker to just end it there. Kiryu on the other hand is not worried about that, he wants to do whatever will keep his loved ones save, with no regard to his own wellbeing. Kiryu is completely selfless like that, putting the safety of the ones close to him above all else, and even tells Nishki to kill him and serve his head to the boss of the Dojima Clan for Nishki’s own personal gain within the Yakuza. Nishki can’t do it, and from there on out Kiryu has to sever all ties with Nishki for the safety of both.

The performance from Nishki really made me sad because of how well I was able to translate his emotions to the situation. The acting is top tier, some of the best you’ll find in any game.

 

[Johnway]

I have plans to play yakuza 4 near the end of the year. its sort of become a sort of holiday/winter tradition for me. I do have plans to get like a dragon and the spin off like a dragon: ishin and judgement/lost judgement. But the price is holding steady on too pricy for my liking so i'm waiting. I can review after i finish all the other games or drops down to a price that satisfies me.

Yakuza i played on the PS2 on an emulator and it was ok. nothing great and the low resolution wasn't doing it any favors.

Yakuza 2 kiwami i absolutely loved. it was a text book example of a brilliant remaster. Nice graphics, new features and it had sub games that i actually wanted to play. Also it had a kick ass sound track. A personal fav is this one:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GiNORk4y_A&list=PLKwIck0IVaGRQB6-j7zYlLMcVMzgwyGBz&index=5



Yakuza 3 was decent, but as previously mentioned it was not going to be as good as Y2 Kiwami. The biggest problem is perhaps the combat was a bit of mess as enemies just completely blocked everything making combat a chore at times. Plus much of the sub games were bloody awful. hostess club quest was a chore and the dating one required too much money to succeed. Without a reliable source it was never going to entertain me for that long.


The one thing i have to say i love about the yakuza series is the minigames. its a little piece of cultural history and nostalgia or just little touches that whilst unnecessary made the games much better. Especially adding old sega classics.

 

[neogunhero]

Also it had a kick ass sound track. A personal fav is this one:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GiNORk4y_A&list=PLKwIck0IVaGRQB6-j7zYlLMcVMzgwyGBz&index=5

Love the J-Rock soundtracks in these games, makes the fights feel so much more badass.

I’ve read a lot of comments that the later games combat started to slip. I’ve only played 0, Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2, but I keep hearing people called Yakuza 3 “Blockuza 3”, presumably because enemies block so much. One Reddit threads goes further and calls 4 “Grabuza 4”, again assuming because enemies are always grabbing you? Not sure. Anyways I really want to play through the series, Kiryu is such an amazing character I want to see his story fully through.

 

[Johnway]

i would argue that kiwami 2 was broken in some places as well. The boss fights did almost leave me gritting my teeth as to how awful it was. by the end of game i had unlocked all sorts of special equipment and abilities that i could keep using supers constantly and be immune to bullets practically.

But that said there were some really BS missions. The amon brothers can be horrible to fight against. The first basically became immune to damage if you use something too often. The second had a SMG and getting close to him was a real challenge and could escape from attacks etc. The final brother carried a rocket launcher and thats after he sends an army of goons and his 2 previous brothers first.

of course the real final boss battle is without a doubt the mini golf game and the mahjong side quest. As soon as i saw those 2 missions my heart sank and i knew that it was game over.

 

[Zloth]

The incredible thing about the early Yakuza series was how it could jump from being zany insanity to gut-wrenching intensity and back. You get a cutscene like @neogunhero described, and then some guy in his underwear is asking to borrow your pants. And it works!

 

[Frindis]

I played a couple of hours in both Yakuza 0 and Like a Dragon. I never got into the story (more with Yakuza 0 though) and the fighting which is a big part of both games I just didn't like. Mainly because I found the fighting to be quite boring and very repetitive and I disliked that you could so easily get into fights randomly. Perhaps it put me back to the times I played Chrono Trigger and had to fight enemies that you just fought when backtracking. I dunno, I am sure the fighting is good and fun when you get into it, but it's not for me.

What I did like with the games was all the minigames and how nice it was to visit different shops. My most fond memory is just ordering food and watching my character eat noodles. I also liked just walking around the city. Doing the cart races in Like a Dragon was fun and also collecting different symbols and opening the different boxes you could find in the city. In Yacuza I remember hating the claw machines, but I had to play them because I wanted to win at least once. I never did.

 

[Zloth]

I just started Like a Dragon today. Wow, that game started with a LOT of exposition. Even as a Kojima fan, I found it excessive! It got a lot better in chapter three, where I finally get to wander around and do what I want.

I was disappointed in Kamurocho 2001. It seemed to be almost exactly like Kamurocho in 2019 except for Millenium Tower. In fact, it's also just like Yakuza 6's Kamurocho!

I got to do a crazy side quest once chapter three cut me loose, so I'm good now.

 

[Brian Boru]

started with a LOT of exposition. Even as a Kojima fan, I found it excessive

So what are you telling me?

Hmm no mods, sorry.
Puts Dragonandon—which is Like a Dragon, right?—on NSFS* list.

* Not Safe For Sanity

 

[Johnway]

I played a couple of hours in both Yakuza 0 and Like a Dragon. I never got into the story (more with Yakuza 0 though) and the fighting which is a big part of both games I just didn't like. Mainly because I found the fighting to be quite boring and very repetitive and I disliked that you could so easily get into fights randomly. Perhaps it put me back to the times I played Chrono Trigger and had to fight enemies that you just fought when backtracking. I dunno, I am sure the fighting is good and fun when you get into it, but it's not for me.

What I did like with the games was all the minigames and how nice it was to visit different shops. My most fond memory is just ordering food and watching my character eat noodles. I also liked just walking around the city. Doing the cart races in Like a Dragon was fun and also collecting different symbols and opening the different boxes you could find in the city. In Yacuza I remember hating the claw machines, but I had to play them because I wanted to win at least once. I never did.

yeah yakuza series does have more JRPG influences then meets the eye. In the older games it was more apparent as you slide into arena/combat mode and you duke it out. The more recent updates made it so that it was seamless and yakuza: like a dragon just did away with any action pretense and just made it turn base like a true JRPG. Personally, i didn't hate it, it gave me something to do and good practice but i agree, it can be very rinse and repeat.

yeah claw machines can be a bit annoying. i was lucky and managed to win a few times. but was i going to collect all those toys? Hell no. And yes, i did save scum like crazy and when i did see a mission to use the claw machines i left them alone as long as possible until i had money to splash and had a spare 30 minutes to have a stab at it.

Storywise, yeah it can be quite complicated. if you're not familar with the various characters or not paying attention and you have no idea the nuisances of the story. Hell yakuza 3 even comes with a flow chart / lore thing to identify whats happening and even gives you a recap of the story from previous games right at the start. As yes, the game story does transcend games.

one thing i do find a bit disappointing is perhaps the game always being set in Kamurocho and maybe one or 2 new locations, but that other location always seem to be osaka or the beach resort. In a perfect world i would love to see more of the city open up and being able to visit more stores. Elderscrolls style.

 

[neogunhero]

So what are you telling me?

Hmm no mods, sorry.
Puts Dragonandon—which is Like a Dragon, right?—on NSFS* list.

* Not Safe For Sanity

It’s good for your sanity if you enjoy the story as much as I do

 

[Zloth]

So what are you telling me?

It's third person, you never would look at it in the first place. Though, watching just the cutscenes on YouTube (or wherever) could work. Yakuza: the Movie!

Edit: OK, I'm VERY scared of these crossbows

Asphalt, tiled sidewalks, concrete... these bolts penetrate far enough for the bolt to stick!

 

[neogunhero]

Just hit Chapter 11 in Yakuza 0, getting close to the end. I’be been really pushing through the story, not focusing too much on my side hustles. I spent some time (and money) on Real Estate Royale and got about 50% of the Leisure District, so actually still very far behind from completing that side business.

I was looking up videos for Kiryu and Majima’s secret stances, the ones you get from beating the real estate/cabaret club side businesses, and the person posting the video casually flexed their 500billion Yen sitting in their pocket. In real life money, that’s roughly $3.5bil USD, mostly made from the real estate/cabaret businesses. I don’t think I have it in me to grind it out that hard haha.

I want to keep doing the side businesses but I also really want to continue the story. I know you are allowed to free-play the game after beating the story instead of doing New Game+, but at that point I may want to move onto Kiwami 1. This go around I’m much more engaged with the story than the rest of the game, I’m guessing because it’s been a while since I’ve been this invested in a game story. Last game I played that I was this invested in its story was Cyberpunk which I beat back in January.

I must have totally missed the sushi chef towards the bottom of Kamurocho last time I played this game. I never knew he existed and I’m happy to see he has a friendship meter. His story is that he was an apprentice for his sushi chef dad who just suddenly passed away, so now this guy Gunji took over the shop but isn’t confident in his sushi making abilities. You grow his friendship meter by going fishing and bringing your catches to him. He makes you sushi with the fish you provided and it makes him happy when you say it’s good. So minuscule in the grand scheme of the game but I love small little side stories like this in the game.

 

[neogunhero]

For some reason thought I was in Chapter 11 but I’m still on Chapter 10 lol.

I defeated the first of the Five Billionaires last night and was at 98% shares in Leisure District when I logged off. Still have to invest a couple more times into businesses before getting to 100%. After defeating Leisure King you get access to three new districts, so at this point 4 in total. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, and I don’t have enough Security and Managers to fill the last district. However I read I can take the Security off the Leisure District once I 100% the area since no one will be causing trouble anymore.

I think my game plan moving forward is to take my time trying to fill up my percentage of shares in the other three districts. Leisure district is making me a cool 40mil Yen each payout which should be steady enough to slowly buy up business in the other areas, but I’ve got a feeling prices for the properties will continue to go up. I noticed that in Leisure District, the first few businesses I bought were around 1-2mil yen, as I got the rest it was up to 15mil yen. But of course, the investments are worth the returns.

Another thing I need to focus on is getting more Advisors. I only have the starting two and for the most part they are good at the things I need them for but they both aren’t great at office building advising. I suspect I will start to acquire more office building properties in the other districts.

Maybe I can actually reach 500billion Yen after all!

 

[Zloth]

If I remember right, there are also 5 Stars to deal with.

 

[Johnway]

i'm thinking when to start my yakuza 4. I might play it after i finished arcade paradise, but i think i'll push it to october and finish that by mid/late November. Then again i start it early and i can start a spooky horror game just in tume for halloween (maybe costume quest or tokyo ghostwire). Hmm... Decisions....

 

[neogunhero]

Only played a bit more last night. Just focused on real estate, picked up some new properties in the Electronics King district. I need to look up a guide on how to get more advisors because the starting two aren’t cutting it anymore. I did compete the Turkey Bowl at the bowling alley and gained that property. This scene below was making me laugh pretty hard.

 

[Brian Boru]

scene below

Yakuza say "Don't bring a hen to a cockfight,

Spoiler: bring Chicharron"

 

[Zloth]

Only played a bit more last night. Just focused on real estate, picked up some new properties in the Electronics King district. I need to look up a guide on how to get more advisors because the starting two aren’t cutting it anymore. I did compete the Turkey Bowl at the bowling alley and gained that property. This scene below was making me laugh pretty hard.

Nugget!

 

[neogunhero]

Yakuza say "Don't bring a hen to a cockfight,

Spoiler: bring Chicharron"

That cockfighting mini game in Far Cry 6 could has easily been in a Yakuza game. Not the same franchise, but Sleeping Dogs had a cockfighting mini game as well but the FC6 one is a lot better

 

[Zloth]

Met some guy called Sujimon Sensei that has a big scar on the right side of his face. He's tracking men that make you super jittery - normally because they will likely attack you. Super jittery men got abbreviated to sujimon. I'll get rewards for collecting data on lots of different types. I bet a get a great reward if I collect them all!

 

[Zloth]

Well, this just got bad. Several hours of gameplay saves are just GONE. I relied on an autosave and I guess I somehow loading the wrong save to continue, which immediately wrote over the one and only autosave.? I guess??

Whatever the case, I just soured on this game a lot more. I've got to go through a whole big dungeon and four boss fights all over again, plus some minor quests.

 

[Frindis]

@Zloth That sucks Any chance you have both a local save file and a cloud save?

 

[Brian Boru]

I've got to

No chance of a very recent Restore Point?

Check the game's save folder, maybe the previous one is changed to .BAK and not deleted until next so-called save.

Guess reviews didn't mention this glaring weakness, did they?

 

[Johnway]

Well, this just got bad. Several hours of gameplay saves are just GONE. I relied on an autosave and I guess I somehow loading the wrong save to continue, which immediately wrote over the one and only autosave.? I guess??

Whatever the case, I just soured on this game a lot more. I've got to go through a whole big dungeon and four boss fights all over again, plus some minor quests.

My sympathies. having experienced something similar to the point of game ending disaster, it hurts when it happens. Normally i don't rely on autosaves especially if i start a new game or multiple people are playing as i'm never too sure how the autosaving for a game works. Sometimes it makes multiple autosaves, sometimes its just one shared by all. Normally i use main saves and autosaves as a fall back mechanism if i don't save often enough or a convenient save game point to an event.

Could be worse, could be Dead Rising 3's save game system. that one was absolutely awful. No seperate saves with DLC or save games so it would wipe your progress from the main game file as well.