Like A Dragon/Yakuza: Kyodais Rock

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Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm sure this is all old hat to everyone itt but I just replayed Yakuza 0, have been playing Yakuza Kiwami and am nearly finished I think (I'm on Chapter 11) and had some thoughts! And also questions, I guess. Should I spoil this? Would anyone but me be spoiled on Kiwami by this point? Well, anyway:

-I previously played the first bit of Kiwami over a year ago and knew going into it that it was going to be inherently less interesting because the interplay between flashy Dojima lieutenants, the 80s real estate boom and switching between two likable characters is inevitably going to be more compelling than hanging out at a homeless camp protecting a little girl, but oooof is it kind of a mess. And not just because of the technical limitations and design of a game that originally came out in the early 2000s, but just weird storytelling missteps like introducing a bunch of characters early on like that random reporter and his protege or the night club owner and his bouncer who seem important who then just kinda...hang around doing nothing. Also the guy who has a secret mass surveillance system that he usually forgets to use until Kiryu directly asks him to. Its totally baffling.
-Related, and I know these games were made a decade apart but the jump from the Chinese characters as empathetic and well-rounded characters in 0 to an evil shaolin master who looks like an extra from Crouching Tiger was super jarring.
-One story beat I actually liked a lot (and I believe was added with Kiwami) was the flashback where Nishiki goes fully evil after killing his rear end in a top hat underling and then goes from staring at the literal blood on his hands to slicking it back and grinning menacingly. It was so perfectly ridiculous and perfectly in line with the absurdity-played-straight of 0. So good.
-Majima Everywhere is kiiind of a huge mess that doesn't at all mesh with the plot but that's probably old news to everyone by this point. Also the Dragon fighting style seems to mostly suck? I did like Majima's scene with the trainer in West Park, though.
-I still hate pocket racing gently caress you fighter I hope your fiance leaves you
-Other than the plot being a mess I kinda like some of the early 2000s game design jank, like every tenth pedestrian having dialogue that's supposed to point you in the right direction of the plot and having to smash up cardboard boxes to access the health drinks hiding in them. Its weirdly charming :shobon:

All in all its not bad but I'm glad to be close to finished and moving onto Kiwami 2, a game I bought in a sale six months ago and then never played :downs:

# ¿ Jul 12, 2020 04:22

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 14:45

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

The Shame Boy posted:

Dragon Style is suppose to suck because you're suppose to grind out Majima Everywhere to make it good. Because.

But the other styles start out good and become great. It makes no sense! I assume the original was just dragon style?

I do like switching to dragon to do that heat move where you grab a guys gun and slap them around though

# ¿ Jul 12, 2020 05:54

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I finished Kiwami last night! Ended up around 54% completion but I can't tell if that means a huge amount of sidequests left open or a bunch of poo poo like 'win at pool' and 'play more of the sexy bug game'. Overall I liked it but it was...uneven.

-The fight with Majima at Shangri-La was great, maybe one of the best in the game. I also like that that was clearly his next actual appearance in the original game hence the bandaged abdomen so they had to add that scene where he gets shot at the docks :allears:

-The plot is....uhh, questionable. I know 0 also had a habit of the last 1/4th being lots of heavy exposition punctuated by shirtless fights but man, when you get to the boat and Kazama just dumps the entire plot on you at once it's a little much. It also feels weird that the end of 0 basically sets up this loving family of friends and a seemingly persistent villain and while I knew Nishiki was the villain in this one I didn't expect every major NPC still alive at the end of 0 to die here. It retroactively makes Shimano's scheming seem way more lucky than smart in 0 because his decade+ master plan here ended up with him throwing grenades at a boat and then getting shot like a dipshit. And then some guy takes over Tojo that I barely recognized as being friends with Kazama or something because he seriously had like four lines.

-Speaking of 0, unless I missed them I'm sad none of my real estate bros showed back up for a little side story. I spent so much time in that office writing postcards and collecting payouts it's strange that the only reference to it I saw was brief conversation with Majima at the hostess club.

-Does every Yakuza game have a lady become temporarily disabled in some way due to psychological trauma because we're two for two at this point

-The coliseum fights with mandatory weapons is the worst thing I've ever played, it was so bad it actually made me like pocket circuit racing a little more

-Speaking of, I wasn't gonna bother with pocket circuit anymore but during karaoke when Kiryu breaks down crying over a pic of him and Pocket Circuit Fighter from the 80s I was like fine, I'll at least finish his substory. I didn't realize to get the parts to even have a hope of beating the final race of his substory you'd have to progress through like 90% of the tournament anyway. Two hours of following a guide later and it's done. Please tell me Kiryu has satiated his hunger for tiny electric toy cars and does not continue his pocket circuit hobby in the next five games.

-I didn't like Jingu coming in as the secret ultimate badass villain in the last 10% of the game but his evil laugh is so wonderfully absurd that I still ended up appreciating him overall. Also every time Yakuza gives you a combat gauntlet with gun guys so you just end up gunning down a bunch of guys then taking their guns to gun down the next set of guys its a nice change of pace so it was a pretty decent finale.

-Other than for a trophy, is there any reason to run around in Premium Adventure doing tasks for Haruka? Is there more story stuff there or is it just kinda the same cutesy bonding overall and a meter going up?

Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Jul 14, 2020

# ¿ Jul 14, 2020 17:12

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Carlosologist posted:

Kiwami was a faithful remake of 1, which is how you get that one janky cutscene where Kiryu kicks a door open and a goon just crumples into a pretzel. It's not surprising that the depth added in 0 doesn't necessarily translate. I think if they had redone the game perhaps you don't get all of Kiryu's friends and family dying, maybe Reina or Shinji makes it out

It's honestly kinda macabre the way premium adventure is just them squatting in Reina's empty bar after she dies. I guess that's a little better than just hanging out in the homeless camp or a host club but it still felt weird!

# ¿ Jul 14, 2020 21:00

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Arbite posted:

Does Seven have the usual bonus' for having the old games' save data?

Wait is this a thing in general? I got some random amulet in K1 for having a 0 save on the HDD but it didn't seem too helpful.

Do they all do this? Are there any really exceptional ones?

# ¿ Jul 25, 2020 05:35

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Took a break from yakuza after beelining 0-> kiwami, just started kiwami 2 yesterday, already found the best substory

# ¿ Jul 28, 2020 14:08

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

ChaosArgate posted:

This one is very good, but its not the best that K2 has to offer.

I would love to be proven wrong! I just made it to the cabaret club and met an old friend so I'm not that far in yet.

I will say while at first I was properly dazzled by the new engine and the ability to both walk into stores and throw street thugs into them I feel like the combat is a little too floaty compared to Y0/K1, and going from four different distinct style to a very pared down version of the dragon style was a little underwhelming. Does it give more variety as I unlock new moves, or am I supposed to use weapons way more because they gave me three slots? Also, can I repair weapons? Also also, are any of the nearby friend heat moves worth getting ASAP?

# ¿ Jul 29, 2020 00:33

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I took the ending of 0 to be that while the Dojima family was basically neutered into doing guard duty for the Kazama family, they still wanted someone who would be unflinchingly loyal to Kazama working on the inside to prevent them from scheming again. I think that's what it implies that meeting between Kiryu and Kazama in jail is near the end?

Speaking of 0 I just got to the bit in Kiwami 2 where you first encounter Majima and liked that Majima basically took the lesson of the empty lot saga and Kiryu's 80s business dealings and jumped into property development himself, so they've essentially flipped and Kiryu is now a Sotenbori cabaret czar and Majima is a Kamurocho real estate guru. :allears:

# ¿ Jul 29, 2020 20:52

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

okay am I crazy or is there not a way to repair weapons in kiwami 2

also should i get judgement for $23 on this PSN sale or should i actually play the other several yakuza games i already own

# ¿ Jul 29, 2020 23:42

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Kiwami 2

I liked that you see him later in the Coliseum and his fighting style is 'infant' :laffo:

I also just finished the bit where you meet the Florist in his new high-tech government office but had to laugh when he mentioned bringing along his old crew and they're all inexplicably still wearing their homeless guy clothes from the last game. Yakuza is just so wonderfully dumb sometimes :allears:

# ¿ Jul 30, 2020 08:33

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Me playing yakuza for the first time:

Just got to the part in Kiwami 2 with the castle and it may be the dumbest spectacle in the series thus far. Like, have your ninja trap castle, that's fine. Why on earth would you build a second, secret, solid-gold replica of the same castle but hide it under the original? Who is it meant to trick? Why did the Omi even want the empty lot in the 80s when they clearly had hundreds of billions to spend on this insane castle-in-a-castle fortress stronghold? And can I assume, much like the subterranean-secret-prison-coliseum from 0, it's both never seen or mentioned again?

# ¿ Aug 1, 2020 04:29

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

mastershakeman posted:

It rules. Have you fought the boss of there yet? Because that's the cherry on top

Boy did I! I thought it was a nice touch that the very next you move you learn from the acupuncturist is the Tiger Drop.

Currently running around Sotenbori with Haruka and I finally hit the point where I broke the economy. Nothing as crazy as 0's billions per minute but even just beating the first league of cabaret czar has me up 4 million with seemingly nothing to spend it on.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2020 05:10

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Gort posted:

Yeah, the combat's not really the reason to play these games. In the more modern entries, the combat is fine but there's too much of it. In the older ones, the combat's pretty bad, and there's too much of it.

Regarding the lengths of the games:

Random question - I played all of Yakuza 6 and have no idea what "The Song of Life" might be. Anyone know?

So my takeaway here is that 6 has almost no side content and 3/4/5 have way too much?

# ¿ Aug 1, 2020 22:28

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Finished Kiwami 2. Not the best image but I think my completion was at a little over 50%. It was good, the ending on the unfinished Kamurocho Hills tower was appropriately dramatic, though when someone jokingly said everyone was a secret Korean I didn't think they literally meant like 4/5ths of new characters :laffo:

. It was a little much, though Terada having a secret plan to bring down the Tojo, but then a second secret plan to use a fake bomb to...draw the other Omi guy out(?) I guess(???) because he was still partially good due to his respect for Kazama but only a little bit (??????). The inevitable series of confusing betrayals in both this and K1 leads me to believe that there will never be a plot as straightforward as 0's 'everyone wants the empty lot and they're all pretty cool flashy 80s criminals' again and for that I am sad. Still, Ryuji and his sister were still pretty good characters. Did Ryuji die at the end after he and Kiryu fought while shot to hell? If so, I'm adding another tally to the list of deaths that Kiryu is clearly responsible for that the game refuses to acknowledge, this one more direct than most.

I also finished the Majima Saga in less than two hours, which was...less than I expected. Is there any reason to stick around and fight all the street bosses? The game said something Majima could send money to Kiryu in the main game but it's kinda like....who cares? Kiryu is already making infinite money and I'm only halfway through the cabaret leagues.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2020 19:14

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

gimme the GOD drat candy posted:

one thing i liked about 0 was that there was actually a store in the weird underground ruined mall beneath the theater. seriously, what the heck was up with that area?

Theres a what now

Also, I've only played 0, K1 and K2 so far but what's the deal with that big building on the east side of the map that looks kinda like a prison? Is that just a notably prominent building in real life? Does it ever come up?

# ¿ Aug 3, 2020 23:35

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Weedle posted:

do you mean this building? in real life it's some sort of municipal government office https://goo.gl/maps/qDAQsEq8FS4nDpKd8

That's the one! Surprised with all the government conspiracy plots it hasn't been a thing in the three games I've played thus far. That entire little stretch of road seems very unused, I think maybe....three substories have had you meet a guy there.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2020 01:47

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

At first I thought and the Kiwami 2 hostess conversations were too boring and then

Also really like the weird 80s glasses you can wear in premium adventure, really plays up the weird pervert aspect of going to a seedy video store to watch movies in a small booth while your adopted daughter patiently waits outside

# ¿ Aug 7, 2020 16:11

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Ugly In The Morning posted:

I wish it used the regular dialogue where I can hit a to move on to the next line instead of waiting for the spoken dialogue. It makes those things take way, way too long.

Yeah this was a bright spot but they're still pretty agonizing, and having done Koyuki's, Aida's and Kana's substories only Koyuki's was worth the three different conversations to get there. I did have a single conversation with the last two hostesses for the trophy but that was about it.

Finishing the cabaret club feels like a nice capstone to end the postgame on. I was happy to be done with Clan Creator when I faced down Mutoh on mission twelve but when his underling betrays him and I realized I had at least three MORE missions to go my entire body went :geno:

and all will to finish it left my body. The dinner conversations with the three old wrestlers was pretty great, at least.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2020 16:54

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I played a little bit of Yakuza 3 today just to see how much of a downgrade it was gonna be from Kiwani 2 and had to laugh when my very last act in K2 was giving up on the lovely Clan Creator battles before the end and in the first half hour of 3 someone on the street goes "it's the weirdest thing, construction on Kamurocho Hills just stopped one day and nobody knows why!"

# ¿ Aug 8, 2020 03:15

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Finally played a bit more of Yakuza 3 and the games so far are three for four of 'girl experiences something traumatic and loses one of her random senses'. This time she's a mute!

Anyway, I'm enjoying island-dad Kiryu despite the archaic combat and somehow even more limited item box.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2020 04:35

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I was starting to think Yakuza 3 would be a slog outside of the fun of island-dad Kiryu (why on earth do they make you run up and down the same three hotel floors and check EVERY room to fight Kanda, that entire sequence should have been cut in half) but there are some pretty good substories tucked away. Acting in the movie and getting tricked into being a prostitute as part of a three-layers-deep scam were both great and kind of a rough version of a 0 substory and the side mission of fighting random hitmen is at least a little better than Kiwami 2's RTS.

Having said that, is there any way to make combat...suck less? Or at least to decrease random encounters? Its insane to me that 0 was the only game so far to have something like the money toss.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2020 04:00

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

RE: Yakuza 3

People said it started slow with the orphans but they've honestly been kind of a highlight. Sure, they've sent me on some insane wild goose chases and all of them seem to be getting bullied constantly but with them I'm playing cute minigames and not engaging with Y3's dreadful combat (though I am glad they made the komaki counter super overpowered in this one so I can just spam it)

Speaking of which, are the Hitman missions worth grinding out to get to the ending? The infinite-blocking, gun-wielding bosses are a pain but the actual target setups and takedowns are actually pretty charming and have the same goofy vibe as real estate in 0 so I'm liking them for that, but there are such a huge amount I'm not sure if it's worth doing.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2020 15:48

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm close to the end of Y3 and I'm sure some absolutely dumbass revelation is happening that might change my views on it, but having now played 0-3 it's funny how each one 'fits' into this schema:

Yakuza 0 tells a good story very well. The leads are great, the supporting cast is extremely memorable, the substories are overall really charming and the minigames are fun. Both Kiryu and Majima both dealing with the Empty Lot problem from opposite sides and inadvertently becoming living legends in the process is just such a satisfying arc, and I think it benefits from having the hindsight of taking place in a set time period rather than just 'the present' so they can have fun making everything hella 80s and joking about taxes bursting the bubble and so on. It's just such a good experience. The worst thing I can say about it is the telephone club is fun exactly once and hostess training should have been, like, two conversations and an activity tops.

Yakuza Kiwami tells a bad story poorly. Every new character that didn't get the benefit of coming from 0 just sucks. There are the bones of good characters that develop more in the sequels in Date/Florist but the host club guys, Date and Florist's kids, the low-level informants, and the guy who ends up as Fifth Chairman are such complete non-entities, and Majima's schtick gets old after about a dozen fights when he suddenly has a million health and jumps you every ten minutes. Almost all the substories that weren't added to the re-release are pretty bad too.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 tells a bad story very well. I can't speak to the original PS2 game but just getting to walk around beautifully rendered Kamurocho/Sotenbori is such a joy to play even if all the plot beats are just you walking to/from a bar to drop off your lady cop friend or Haruka with the occasional secret Korean showing up to fight you. There are so many levels of betrayal and secret witnesses during the flashback that it's hard to even keep it straight, and I think what makes it even worse is none of it matters. Like, if K2 was completely excised and the plot went from K1->3 it would make perfect sense, because the lady cop leaves forever anyway, all the villains are either dead or never mentioned again, Majima rejoins the Tojo anyway at the beginning of 3, etc. Having said that, the cabaret club is GOAT so that kinda makes up for it.

Yakuza 3 is a decent story told poorly. It almost feels like a first draft of 0 because it's once again about a bunch of people getting shot at over a real estate deal, and the villains are even a trio of Yakuza captains that are sleazy, brutish and coldly calculating (basically rough sketches of Awano, Kuze and Shibusawa). I also like that instead of Kiryu just kind of awkwardly being a bad adopted father who drags his daughter around red light districts while he hits people in the face the slow burn orphanage plot really emphasizes that he's trying to leave that life behind. Admittedly stuff like the shooter being Kazama's CIA affiliated identical twin is dumb, but no moreso than Yumi secretly being her own sister. Plus the CIA would absolutely bully another country and work with organized crime for a negligible military benefit so that part lines up too. Unfortunately actually playing it is a chore, the XP system makes it so you'll never have any strong moves until you're 3/4ths through the plot, the new chase system is a neat idea that is absolute dogshit to play, and the revelation system is good but the way you have to do a QTE and then pick the right answer from three vague lines is such a bad way of showing that. Just zoom in on Kiryu's face and have him say "that's rad." guys :sigh:

Will probably take a break before trying Y4-6 because apparently there is such a thing as too much Kiryu (even though i know 4 finally gets back to character switching, another point in 0's favor that kept things fresh). Maybe Judgment though...

Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Aug 20, 2020

# ¿ Aug 20, 2020 22:24

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

It is so baffling to me that 0 introduced multiple ways to reduce street crime battles when you're tired of them (make half of them ones where you have to intervene + the money throwing option) and not only did the remakes ignore this but Kiwami 2 made them chase you for like four blocks

# ¿ Sep 2, 2020 21:26

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I played a little bit of Judgment and it feels weird after pouring so much time into Kiwami 2 for all the little things that don't match (unusable vending machines, random encounters not having red dots over their heads, alcohol not immediately maxing your heat bar, etc). Also still annoyed that the little food window just down the street from Serena is completely gone and replaced with nothing because that was my favorite place to get Kiryu trashed on highballs :argh:

. I'm also not sold on wall jumping since I've hit someone with it maybe successfully twice out of twenty attempts.

Still I'm liking the narrative so far and the murder mystery intrigue. And I like that the PC has his own little place to sleep and decorate as opposed to Kiryu who spent most of the four Yakuza games I've played so far squatting in mostly-derelict bars.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2020 04:13

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Me playing Chapter 1 of Judgment: Man, I like this but it's a little strange to have such a low-key, straightforward investigation plot in this RGG game

Me playing Chapter 2 of Judgment: oh

# ¿ Sep 8, 2020 03:21

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Yeah I'm still liking it a lot. I still don't totally have a handle on the combat compared to Kiryu's tankier movement but I have mastered that move where you go from a wall jump to that EX move where you take out like four grunts so that's good! I've also yet to unlock the dating game, VR or scanning QR codes but I'm not sure if that happens in the story or it's just part of stumbling onto sidequests. It feels weird still being in Chapter 3, knowing a bunch of stuff is still opening up but having played a hell of a lot of good side content already. Heavy 0 vibes that way.

Also it took a minute to get used to but I'm liking english VA Yagami and Kaito. A bunch of random NPCs being voiced by the guy who plays every guard in Hitman also makes me laugh.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2020 16:15

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Loving Judgment, just made it to Chapter 7. Overall its definitely my favorite game since 0, and I think a lot of that is how 'fresh' it feels compared to Kiryu stepping in to save the Dojima family again because the chairman hosed up again (admittedly I haven't played 4-6 yet so they could also capture this feeling with all the new characters in 4/5). It also feels like this kind of nice fully realized version of modern day Kamurocho with drone races and VR games and such in the same way 0 feels like this fully realized 80s version of the same, whereas Kiwami 2 has this awkward feel where its trying to be a remake and a half sequel to 0 with design elements brought in from the new engine even though its supposed to be happening a decade ago, if that makes sense. Also Kaito is good and strong and my friend.

My biggest gripe is that the combat still doesn't feel quite right even after I've unlocked most of the moves, its just a little too floaty and finicky. Also I thought you guys were over-exaggerating the tailing missions being bad until the second fortune teller tail that would just never end. I do like how they brought back the crappy chase minigame from Y3 but just made it too easy to lose this time, though.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2020 04:11

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Kinda disappointed now that I have the QR code finder in Judgment that 95% of the codes are just drone-parts related after a couple I grabbed that were amazing (Tiger Drop of course and that one where you knock off an entire health bar in EX mode). I also still haven't found the skill book that lets you spot random encounters and the gang threat level system sucks and I hate it but those are my only real complaints!

The part in Chapter 7 where they bring back the cabaret menu just to play as Saori for twenty minutes was amazing and the disguise you get after that in Chapter 8 is almost as incredible as the vampire outfit. I also really appreciate how a lot of the little friendship quests are cute and normal stuff like taking selfies with that one burger store employee but then the game throws some poo poo like Giant Impact at you that's so ridiculous it's like I'm right back in 0 :allears:

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 07:15

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm close to the end of Judgment (just started Chapter 12) and I had to laugh in Chapter 11 when the super secret Matsugane hideout that required bugging their office and doing days of stakeout turned out to be the empty building literally right next to the Matsugane office :downs:

. The scene with the Mole walking into the cabaret and straight-up murdering like ten yakuza shortly after definitely makes up for that, though.

Also vaguely annoyed because I got the QR code finder and have just been casually using it since and just through natural exploration I've gotten, like, all but one drone code and two other codes. I have no idea where they could be or if there are missable codes :gonk:

# ¿ Sep 18, 2020 15:05

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Made it the point of no-return in Judgment, wondering if I should finish dating four women simultaneously and wrap up all my open cases or just save it for the post-game. It's still good, though some of the cultural stuff doesn't really mesh (like the bit in Chapter 12 where the AD9 director is willing to admit to aiding and abetting serial murder because of how mortified he is of a video of him grabbing a reporter's rear end being leaked, a thing that wouldn't even stay in the news for a full week if it happened in the US) and Yagami's plans to continuously break into buildings, kidnap people and coerce confessions out of them to then later use in court don't really fit the 'gathering evidence and sneaking around' vibe of the earlier parts of the game but hey its RGG, it was inevitably going to come down to fighting a gauntlet of guys in a building at some point.

It turns out the one QR code I had left was in that alley behind that one building on Tenkaichi that had a mahjong parlor in Kiwami 2 and I think was roughly where the Kazama family offices were in 0. Huh!

Now that I'm near the end and finally have a decent grip on the combat I just realized there is no coliseum-type battle arena this time? Unless I missed it? If not its a strange decision when they went through the trouble of creating two new fighting styles to play around with.

# ¿ Sep 20, 2020 03:43

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Finished Judgment at 49% completion, which is kinda funny since I was at 40/50 reputation, all but a handful of side cases solved and, admittedly, only 1/4 girlfriends. For awhile I was loving it and thought 'poo poo is this the first one where I actually fight Amon??' until I realized the pawn shop friend is gated behind being good at or even understanding shogi, a thing I am not willing to do.

Still a really great plot and, having played Y0-3, probably the tightest narrative since 0. I will still never get over how much Yagami dresses like a divorced dad and was supremely disappointed that you can't use the disguises in Premium Adventure though.

# ¿ Sep 21, 2020 01:47

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Zushio posted:

There is a cheat book for Shoji that is infinite uses. It will automatically show you what moves to make and will usually give you a win on the lower difficulties. It is sorta slow though, sometimes it takes close to a minute to figure out a move. I think completion for Shogi is just win 5 matches period, it doesnt matter if you actually progress through the ranks, just redo the first one.

I can't remember if any of the puzzle matches are required, but they all have fixed solutions. I also can't wrap my head around the game, but getting the completion for it only took an hour or so tops.

You could also find an online shogi game and set the AI difficulty to the highest. Then you put the computer's moves from Judgment into the online game as your moves. Then replicate what the AI does on the online version as your moves in Judgment. It can be difficult to keep track, but will technically go faster than the cheat book, as even the worst online Shogi is way smarter than what is in Judgment.

It wasnt so much for the shogi challenge (I'll never platinum a yakuza game because I'll never get through even half of the completion list, I can't imagine grinding out another 100+ street battles to get all the combat ones let alone all the minigame stuff) but to win enough wooden tags to buy the final painting to befriend the pawn shop guy to bump my city reputation. But it definitely seems like more trouble than it's worth!

# ¿ Sep 21, 2020 03:21

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Why don't they consider Judgment part of Yakuza when it takes place in the same city and is about the same crime family wrapped up in similar government conspiracy and land deals? Is it because Yagami never takes off his shirt before fighting?

# ¿ Sep 25, 2020 05:17

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

ItohRespectArmy posted:

yakuza 3 is a great game it just looks bad in comparison to yakuza games which are at a base level of excellent

Yakuza 3 is a lovable orphanage dad sim that constantly interrupts being a good dad with the most miserable combat

# ¿ Oct 5, 2020 21:23

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

The Judgment dub felt weird at first but by like Chapter 2 I was fully on board. Though I do like how "this is Yagami" is his bark for non-voiced conversations and the text is always like "Hello name is Yagami." All the girlfriends have similarly weird barks and they all have some variation of "Oh that's true!" that would get stuck in my head.

I also heard "the more I driiiink the stronger I geeet" way too much because I couldn't resist doing the drunk 'hit 3 guys' heat move.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2020 20:15

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Detective No. 27 posted:

Yagami fucks.

Yagami is so thoroughly the opposite of Kiryu with women that hes actually kind of a dick about it

Not even just the potential cheating, but his romance with the drone lady is basically him borderline harassing her when she stops responding to his messages. Take a hint, man.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2020 07:47

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

goblin week posted:

I turned down all the girls except the fortune teller, in hopes she could divine who the Mole is.

I agree the fortune teller is far and away the best romance, though I was disappointed that her storyline didn't end with her patron yakuza dramatically ripping off his shirt to reveal his cow tattoo before fighting Yagami. It seemed so obvious a conclusion and then it just fizzles out instead.

If they ever get around to making a sequel she should definitely be upgraded to canon love interest/agency employee/participant in the actual main quest.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2020 15:55

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

In the same way 0 elevates every character I assumed Kashiwagi was a huge factor in the games afterwards, especially his dramatic fight with Majima on the roof, so I was surprised when he ends up just being a pretty affable, helpful guy who you talk to a few times in a couple games who then dies almost immediately in Y3.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2020 17:01

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 14:45

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

stev posted:

Powered through to the end of Kiwami. I'm probably just going to gently caress around with Kiwami 2 for a bit before 7 comes out and jump into that. I wish I could've played them all before 7 but even if Sega released them all on PC tomorrow it'd probably take me at least a year.

I wasn't expecting almost every major character set up in 0 to be dead by the end of the first game, I have to admit. I at least thought Nishiki would have stuck around long term. It does make me wonder where the story goes from here though, since the only prominent Yakuza members still around are... Majima and that dude Kiryu appointed successor after knowing him for eight seconds.

Funnily enough you do meet a couple major Yakuza characters in 0 that end up being a big part of Kiwami 2, you just don't know it yet since they only show up in sidequests.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2020 04:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Like A Dragon/Yakuza: Kyodais Rock

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