Yakuza / Like A Dragon Megathread

DarkJager21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117797908#Comment_117797908

Yeah I have that in the backlog too, only vaguely familiar with the series but the demo was batshit insane enough to warrant a purchase

Mr.Fantastic

Finished Yakuza Kiwami 2 recently enough and loved it . Will prob bounce around a few other games in the meantime , but am thinking of either starting judgement or Yakuza 6 in a few months ?

I heard 6 isn't great where as judgement is fantastic ? Also have like a dragon on gamepass, but will leave that for later as it's so different

Zero-Cool

I tried playing Judgement twice and couldn't get into it. The **** trailing missions drive me mad, just let me get to the fun stuff! I loved Y6. Nice new location, found it relaxing to play. Serious itch to play LaD again. I have 3 or 4 games I'm wanting to play and they are well on Gamepass, lucky feckers.

Retr0gamer

Parked LaD last night at level 60 outside the last dungeon with all side quests completed.

Have to say the revelations about the coin locker are the dumbest most convenient **** ever in a videogame but I just went with it considering it's not out of line with the rest of the crazy.

DarkJager21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117800088#Comment_117800088

I can't actually remember there being that many tailing missions over the course of the game, maybe 3 or 4 at a push? Has been a while since I played it though. If you can push through/ignore them there's a brilliant game there, some of the end game fights are ridiculously good.

skerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117801228#Comment_117801228

Major coincidences there alright but what the heck :) Underground Dungeon in last area is great for grinding levels quick. There's 3 metal slime type dudes on the second floor and farming them for 30 minutes got me around 10 levels. First one is near the save point so might be even quicker to get him and leg back to save point to reset the enemies. 450k XP per encounter

Retr0gamer

And I'm done. I'll leave more detailed thoughts when I get a chance in the games completed thread but it was one of the best RPGs ive played in a while.

johnny_ultimate

Finally at the last chapter of Like a Dragon. A very fine game indeed, albeit with the usual Yakuza caveat that I wish they put a bit more thought into pacing the thing! Story-wise it's the usual overlong meandering soap opera the series always has to offer, albeit thankfully with a great main cast. This one has a particularly mad difficultly curve, and by that I mean the first 30-35 hours are just an absolute walk in the park. Only in the final chapters do the bosses pose much of a challenge at all, and even then it's very modest. Granted, I did the business mini-game very early so was farcically overpowered for a while 😁 But pretty sure...

Spoiler Warning

Kazuma

... was my first game over the entire game.

I much prefer the turn-based combat to the brawling of the previous games, but hopefully the sequel will open up the intricacies a bit more and put more focus on the elemental / buff / debuff systems as you can pretty much tank your way through most fights here if you can't, for example, exploit an ice weakness.

I've done a lot of the side content (certainly every substory I've come across) although not sure I could be arsed with grinding out the last tier of part-time hero. Will definitely do the optional dungeon before the final boss though, as I'm currently just below level 50 with my characters so will push that up a little bit. Settled on the Eri / Joon-gi / Saeko for my main combo due to the former two's AOE attacks for clearing out mobs, but Koichi's paralyse slam is incredible for most bosses.

I would say overall I'm much fonder of Ichiban as a protagonist than Kazuma. Much livelier and charming character. Will definitely pick up a sequel as soon as it's out... although on PS5 next time so I can play from the comfort of the couch rather than another few hours at the PC in the evening!

Zero-Cool

Picked this up again in Argos today for 23 quid. Looking forward to getting back into it. My save file is at the start of chapter 5 so i believe i will shortly unlock the business minigame which I'm looking forward to.

johnny_ultimate

Set aside the two hours to clear the final chapter tonight and now I am done. A fine game and may the next Ichiban-starring Yakuza game arrive swiftly :)

But there are some things we refuse to let change. Like the uncompromising flavour of our senbei. ❤️

https://youtu.be/Au2KkIUfEKU

Zero-Cool

Just unlocked the management game in chapter 5 of LaD, no idea what going on even after reading all the tutorials. Did my first shareholder meeting and failed it so quick, shut off the PlayStation hoping that when i put it back on, i get another go at it. Gonna have to look up a guide for this.

johnny_ultimate

The management mini game is quite easy once you get the hang of it! Once you get past the initial stages it’s smooth sailing to infinite yen.

The more expensive properties are the best bang for buck. Stock up on them as quickly as possible, and sell em on as you unlock the higher tiers.

Use the ‘auto care’ option to motivate your staff before a shareholder meeting. You shouldn’t have to motivate them again then until the next one rolls around.

Shareholder meetings are very simple once you get the hang of it. It’s just Rock Paper Scissors - each shareholder has a weakness you can exploit. Make sure your board members are a mix of red, blue and green specialists (try to have ones with lower costs - you don’t want ones that all take 20 action points to use!). Each shareholder will then usually have a character you need to use to knock out their shield and then you can exploit their weaknesses by hitting them repeatedly (not always with the same character you use to knock out the shield initially). The game tells you the characters’ weakness as part of the UI. Hit them repeatedly and your combo meter will climb, wiping them out quickly in the process.

If you need a hand, Ichiban’s special power is usually most effective when it’s charged up to it’s second tier - third is good but takes ages to get there!

A guide will go into some of the other bits (training and promotions etc) but it is all pretty manageable once you just figure out the interlocking systems. Should be smooth sailing once you have a few businesses comfortably turning a profit :)

Dillonb3

Finally 100% Like a Dragon- true final millennium tower dungeon was an absolute pain

Class final theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZu3gbuMNUw

Zero-Cool

I sold Like a Dragon today, just couldn't click with it. The characters were brilliant but i was zoning out of the story and putting combat on auto so i just really wasn't engaging with it. I spent 22 euro on it and got 26 credit so not too bad at all.

Tempted to pick up Kiwami 2 again just for the mini games, specifically the cabaret grand Prix.

Zero-Cool

Ok, so to satisfy my Yakuza itch, I've narrowed it down to Kiwami 2 and Zero. I've cleared both so just looking to do substories and side activities.

2 is the newer engine with qol additions and has clan creator but it's missing pocket circuit and real estate management which i really liked in Zero. Pity there wasn't 1 Y game that had all the side stuff.

johnny_ultimate

Like A Dragon 2 images surface. It's real!

https://twitter.com/famitsu/status/1549363407614185472?s=20&t=GarqmA7qb29aw5zEW1JueA

My definite favourite of the Yakuza games thanks to Ichiban and his gang of misfits. So all in for a sequel.

Mandatory Ichiban theme song:

https://youtu.be/gmLrJTpOx4A

Mr.Saturn

The LAD hype is making it difficult for me to finish the games in order, currently on a long pause from Yakuza 5 as Saejima's chapter jackknifes the game's pace — even by Yakuza standards.

Zero-Cool

I really wanted to love LaD but tried it twice and got bored of it. Ichi is a brilliant character, same with his crew. Great side quests and npc's but the main story just wasn't gripping me. The combat had me falling back on auto combat which had me zoning out. Will give it a go another time, hoping i was going through a lull.

Retr0gamer

LaD was on of the best RPGs I've played in a long time. Adored it. Can't wait for LaD2 although I'll miss the Ichiban 'fro.

sniper_samurai

Bump. 3 new games announced within the last 24 hours and a rebranding in the west.

The Ishin spin off is getting a remake in UE4 along with Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and 8. The franchise going forward will be known by the translation of the Japanese title "Like a Dragon" rather than Yakuza.

Penn

Must try LaD again. Felt like I played two hours of it but gameplay was only about 15 minutes and I ended up abandoning it. I know Yakuza games are slow at the start but just wasn't in the right mood for it and fell off.

Zero-Cool

Definitely have to go back to LaD, new one Like a Dragon 8 (R.I.P Yakuza name) will have Kiryu in it, possibly as a playable character. 2024 bit off though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJhqN7R_oAg

johnny_ultimate

I think it’s a shame they’re looping back in Kiryu so overtly. Ichiban is IMO a triumph of a character and well able to hold a game on his own. I know Like A Dragon brought in lots of the main players, but it was in cameo or supporting roles.

Fair enough about the Kiryu spin-off, but let Ichiban lead the charge for the mainline series :)

Azza

Judgement and Lost Judgement have just had a shadow release on Steam today, just in case anyone is interested.

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119617435#Comment_119617435

Surprised at that Johnnys were preventing it as they are extremely militant wrt the use of their talent on anything accessible on PC.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119617864#Comment_119617864

#NotAllJohnnys 😆

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119618177#Comment_119618177

Well some have you covered, others exist only to have all digital images of their talent removed from the internet.

J. Marston

Look how they massacred my boy's hair.

Retr0gamer

https://twitter.com/SlimelordKRS/status/1570033822640775174?t=d_4vqrZjt79xvU5aVA5spQ&s=19

Kind of crazy this is the reason but kind of shows how business in Japan can be so far behind because there's so many conservative old men running everything.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119617305#Comment_119617305

My main problem is that I've spent hundreds of hours with Kiryu speaking Japanese and a few dozen hours with Ichiban speaking English, so either option will feel wrong now. The English voice acting in Like a Dragon was generally great and I never felt like I wanted to switch to Japanese, with the exception of the cameos from previous characters because I was so used to their original voice actors.