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I have been playing through the Yakuza franchise for the first time this year. Just last night, I finished Yakuza 5 after almost 90 hours of gameplay. It's a very big game, and now that I have played about half of the games they have released so far, I thought I would take a moment to write about my thoughts on the games, from where I started to where I am now.
UPDATE SINCE FIRST DRAFT: I have since finished Yakuza 6, and have started Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
UPDATE SINCE FIRST DRAFT: I have since finished Yakuza 6, and have started Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!
Yakuza 0:
Yakuza 0 is the first game that I played in the franchise, and it is so far my favourite. It's not too surprising, considering it is most people's favourite as well. It tells an amazing story that kept me on the edge of my seat, with amazing characters. The plot might seem confusing at first, making you wonder how the two protagonists stories are connected, but as soon as the story goes on and everything becomes clearer, it's extremely satisfying.
The two protagonists we follow are Kazuma Kiryu, the usual franchise protagonist, and Goro Majima, the fan favourite who finally (canonically) became playable. (He was a protagonist in the spin-off; Yakuza Dead Souls).
I won't be getting into the plot too much, because I think everyone needs to experience it themselves, as it has become my favourite plot in any video game, and potentially my favourite video game of all time. Let's just say it made me cry. A lot.
The gameplay is really good. It's probably best described as an action-adventure beat 'em up, and some of the other games stray away from this format in later games, but most of the franchise follows this gameplay format. That being said, fighting isn't all there is to do. If you have heard of Yakuza then odds are, you have heard of all of the mini-games there are to play, and Yakzua 0 is full of them. My favourite is always the karaoke. I love the songs, and the gameplay. I am a fan of rhythm games after all. Yakuza 0 features 3 amazing songs for the protagonists to sing, and a number of songs for the hostesses you can meet in the game. Kiryu sings Judgement -Shinpan- (as well as Nishiki) and Baka Mitai. You probably know the latter. Goro Majima only sings one song, but it's 24-Hour Cinderella, so that makes up for it. I'm not a big fan of the disco mini-game, but that's because it confuses me. The timing feels weird, so I always mess up.
Other mini-games include casino games like roulette, black jack, and poker. As well as Japanese games like shogi, and majong. I don't really play those games too much, because I am not a fan of gambling too much, and I don't know how to play the Japanese games.
Another mini-game that I do enjoy however, is the pocket circuit racing. This is exclusive to Kiryu. You get a toy car, customize their parts, and race them on a track to get first place. I absolutely love this mini-game despite looking up guides for it. I almost forgot to mention the batting centr that can be found in most of the Yakuza games. I'm not very good at it, but it's still pretty fun.
Other than the mini-games, there's also the side stories. These are like substories, but bigger. They're a like the b-plot. Both protagonists have a different one. For Kiryu, he has the Real Estate side story, and Majima has the Cabaret Club side story. I do really enjoy both of them but have not finished either of them. I know you get a new fighting style for both Kiryu and Majima when you finish them, so I am hoping to finish them during my second playthrough that I currently have on hold so I can get caught up with the series. In general, Yakuza 0 is a must-play, and my favourite game in the franchise.
Yakuza Kiwami:
The next game that I played was Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the first Yakuza game. I have a lot of good and bad things to say about this game. The story, while still good, left me kinda disappointed compared to Yakuza 0. I do have to keep in mind that this is technically the first game in the franchise, so the story isn't going to be anything groundbreaking. I do love the characters in this game. This is when we first meet Haruka, the little girl who Kiryu goes on to raise as his own daughter. Speaking of Kiryu, he is the only protagonist, as we won't be seeing multiple protagonists again until Yakuza 4.
The gameplay is the same as Yakuza 0, there's a lot of the same mini-games (minus the disco) and the combat is the same. There is no side story in this game though. Yakuza Kiwami certainly feels like the most empty of the games in the franchise. But, I have a lot more hours in this game than I do in most of the others. The reason? Majima.
Yakuza Kiwami adds new things to the game that weren't in the original game. This includes the Majima Everywhere mechanic. It's exactly what it sounds like; Majima is almost literally everwhere, getting ready to fight Kiryu. It's there as a way to upgrade your Dragon of Dojima fighting style. Fighting styles are exclusively in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. I neglected to mention them in the Yakuza 0 section because I thought I would talk about it here, as both Majima and Kiryu have 4 fighting styles each (the fourth is the unlockable one in Yakuza 0).
Majima's fighting styles are Thug, Slugger, and Breaker. Thug is a pretty fast and brutal combat style, and Majima's starting style. The next one he unlocks (in Yakuza 0) is Slugger. This style is a weapons focused style that gives you an indestructible baseball bat that can be swapped out with many other weapons. And finally, Breaker is a break dancing style. Yep. Majima can defeat enemies by breakdancing. His fourth style, which I have yet to ever use, is Mad Dog of Shimano style. In this style, Majima wields a dagger and is very fast and acrobatic.
Now, back to Kiwami so we can talk about Kiryu's fighting styles. Just like Majima, Kiryu has 4 unique styles to use. His first style is called Brawler. It's a pretty average fighting style, similar to Majima's Thug style. Next, is Rush style. This style is very fast, and the more of the Heat gauge you fill up, the faster you go. That applies to all fighting stances. Rush also offers multiple dashes, which is what is used to dodge. Third is Beast style. This style is slow but powerful, and as you attack enemies, any items nearby will be automatically picked up and used as a weapon. It's a very fun style to use. The fourth is Dragon of Dojima style. This one is hard to describe if you don't know the franchise, but this is Kiryu's typical moveset, as the multi-style fighting is only present in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. Dragon of Dojima style is my favourite of the styles that Kiryu has to offer. It feels powerful and it can get pretty fast as you upgrade it.To upgrade it, you need to do training with Komaki. He is a trainer that is present in pretty much all of the games. The other way to upgrade Dragon of Dojima style is through the Majima Everywhere mechanic. You fight Majima, and when you fight him certain times or after a certain number of times, you get an upgrade. It's my favourite part of the game, because I think it's fun, and Majima is my favourite character in the franchise.
Other than the gameplay, I hate to say it but Yakuza Kiwami is lacking everywhere else. The pocket circuit racing is there, but that's about it. The substories are the biggest disappointment. They're all the same, and some of them are just borderline offensive towards transgendered women. I don't know if all of them were in the original game, but if they were, they really could have been taken out or just tweaked. All of the substories are just people trying to scam Kiryu, he beats them up, you get a reward, and that's it.
The story was fine, it was simple. I love the characters, and the ending did make me cry. I would say that I don't think it's the best place to start with Yakuza oddly enough. Start with Yakuza 0, or start with the (soft) reboot, Yakuza; Like A Dragon.
Next entry... I will be talking about Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3 (Remastered)The two protagonists we follow are Kazuma Kiryu, the usual franchise protagonist, and Goro Majima, the fan favourite who finally (canonically) became playable. (He was a protagonist in the spin-off; Yakuza Dead Souls).
I won't be getting into the plot too much, because I think everyone needs to experience it themselves, as it has become my favourite plot in any video game, and potentially my favourite video game of all time. Let's just say it made me cry. A lot.
The gameplay is really good. It's probably best described as an action-adventure beat 'em up, and some of the other games stray away from this format in later games, but most of the franchise follows this gameplay format. That being said, fighting isn't all there is to do. If you have heard of Yakuza then odds are, you have heard of all of the mini-games there are to play, and Yakzua 0 is full of them. My favourite is always the karaoke. I love the songs, and the gameplay. I am a fan of rhythm games after all. Yakuza 0 features 3 amazing songs for the protagonists to sing, and a number of songs for the hostesses you can meet in the game. Kiryu sings Judgement -Shinpan- (as well as Nishiki) and Baka Mitai. You probably know the latter. Goro Majima only sings one song, but it's 24-Hour Cinderella, so that makes up for it. I'm not a big fan of the disco mini-game, but that's because it confuses me. The timing feels weird, so I always mess up.
Other mini-games include casino games like roulette, black jack, and poker. As well as Japanese games like shogi, and majong. I don't really play those games too much, because I am not a fan of gambling too much, and I don't know how to play the Japanese games.
Another mini-game that I do enjoy however, is the pocket circuit racing. This is exclusive to Kiryu. You get a toy car, customize their parts, and race them on a track to get first place. I absolutely love this mini-game despite looking up guides for it. I almost forgot to mention the batting centr that can be found in most of the Yakuza games. I'm not very good at it, but it's still pretty fun.
Other than the mini-games, there's also the side stories. These are like substories, but bigger. They're a like the b-plot. Both protagonists have a different one. For Kiryu, he has the Real Estate side story, and Majima has the Cabaret Club side story. I do really enjoy both of them but have not finished either of them. I know you get a new fighting style for both Kiryu and Majima when you finish them, so I am hoping to finish them during my second playthrough that I currently have on hold so I can get caught up with the series. In general, Yakuza 0 is a must-play, and my favourite game in the franchise.
Yakuza Kiwami:
The next game that I played was Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the first Yakuza game. I have a lot of good and bad things to say about this game. The story, while still good, left me kinda disappointed compared to Yakuza 0. I do have to keep in mind that this is technically the first game in the franchise, so the story isn't going to be anything groundbreaking. I do love the characters in this game. This is when we first meet Haruka, the little girl who Kiryu goes on to raise as his own daughter. Speaking of Kiryu, he is the only protagonist, as we won't be seeing multiple protagonists again until Yakuza 4.
The gameplay is the same as Yakuza 0, there's a lot of the same mini-games (minus the disco) and the combat is the same. There is no side story in this game though. Yakuza Kiwami certainly feels like the most empty of the games in the franchise. But, I have a lot more hours in this game than I do in most of the others. The reason? Majima.
Yakuza Kiwami adds new things to the game that weren't in the original game. This includes the Majima Everywhere mechanic. It's exactly what it sounds like; Majima is almost literally everwhere, getting ready to fight Kiryu. It's there as a way to upgrade your Dragon of Dojima fighting style. Fighting styles are exclusively in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. I neglected to mention them in the Yakuza 0 section because I thought I would talk about it here, as both Majima and Kiryu have 4 fighting styles each (the fourth is the unlockable one in Yakuza 0).
Majima's fighting styles are Thug, Slugger, and Breaker. Thug is a pretty fast and brutal combat style, and Majima's starting style. The next one he unlocks (in Yakuza 0) is Slugger. This style is a weapons focused style that gives you an indestructible baseball bat that can be swapped out with many other weapons. And finally, Breaker is a break dancing style. Yep. Majima can defeat enemies by breakdancing. His fourth style, which I have yet to ever use, is Mad Dog of Shimano style. In this style, Majima wields a dagger and is very fast and acrobatic.
Now, back to Kiwami so we can talk about Kiryu's fighting styles. Just like Majima, Kiryu has 4 unique styles to use. His first style is called Brawler. It's a pretty average fighting style, similar to Majima's Thug style. Next, is Rush style. This style is very fast, and the more of the Heat gauge you fill up, the faster you go. That applies to all fighting stances. Rush also offers multiple dashes, which is what is used to dodge. Third is Beast style. This style is slow but powerful, and as you attack enemies, any items nearby will be automatically picked up and used as a weapon. It's a very fun style to use. The fourth is Dragon of Dojima style. This one is hard to describe if you don't know the franchise, but this is Kiryu's typical moveset, as the multi-style fighting is only present in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. Dragon of Dojima style is my favourite of the styles that Kiryu has to offer. It feels powerful and it can get pretty fast as you upgrade it.To upgrade it, you need to do training with Komaki. He is a trainer that is present in pretty much all of the games. The other way to upgrade Dragon of Dojima style is through the Majima Everywhere mechanic. You fight Majima, and when you fight him certain times or after a certain number of times, you get an upgrade. It's my favourite part of the game, because I think it's fun, and Majima is my favourite character in the franchise.
Other than the gameplay, I hate to say it but Yakuza Kiwami is lacking everywhere else. The pocket circuit racing is there, but that's about it. The substories are the biggest disappointment. They're all the same, and some of them are just borderline offensive towards transgendered women. I don't know if all of them were in the original game, but if they were, they really could have been taken out or just tweaked. All of the substories are just people trying to scam Kiryu, he beats them up, you get a reward, and that's it.
The story was fine, it was simple. I love the characters, and the ending did make me cry. I would say that I don't think it's the best place to start with Yakuza oddly enough. Start with Yakuza 0, or start with the (soft) reboot, Yakuza; Like A Dragon.
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