The Yakuza series.

[TheDorkyDane]

So well, first thing about this series is I love it for one very simple reason.... Yakuza is hilarious.

It is a very peculiar series being very Japanese, it is a game trying to create an mostly authentic version of "Kamurocho." a real life district in Tokyo, often refereed to as a "Red light district."

Most of the games has Japanese voice acting and only English subtitles, which is honestly for the better. It is a very strange and unique experience to play these games, which probably also explains why it they never really caught fire here in the west.
They always had their dedicated smaller fanbase, but it is only in more recent years they seemed to somewhat break into the mainstream... Only somewhat.

I mean, if certain feminist reviewers got a wind of this franchise, ahem, we would never live it down guys... Never.
Me personally though... I am a straight women but I have always been laughing hysterically when a life action woman was showcased in a tiny bikini rubbing her boobs on a balloon.
These games can get away with it, because it is VERY tongue in cheek, and it is legit very funny.

I will admit I only got into this series very late when "Yakuza 0" was gifted to me... I played it and it caught my interest when I had to teach a Yankee how to be hardcore... Then I won a chicken to be my business manager and I was SOLD to this entire franchise.

I really do think the two words to describe this franchise is. "Ridicoules." and "Fun." though if I needed to find a third word it would be "Heart."

The combat is ridicules, you can pick up nearly what-ever and smash people over the head with it, the set pieces are something out of the most over the top silly Die hard movie, the humor as I said... just in the side quest.

But the games also all have genuine heart! Which is what ties them together and makes them work, if Kiryu was an asshole, I don't think I would have been able to enjoy these games as much, but he has a heart of gold which gives the entire franchise its sold.

I am glad I got to join it in its last years so I could get this experience.

And then of course! This summer, a new game by the same team ALSO taking place in Kamurocho but with an entirely different cast and gameplay will come out called "Judges eyes."

It looks like it will take a less goofy more serious approach but... You know... It is the team behind Yakuza, if this doesn't have goofy aspects I shall be very surprised, and it looks legit amazing. I am looking very much forward to play it!

So, anyone else played this series? What are your thoughts?

Anyone else looking forward to "Judges eyes." ???

[isturbo1984]

I still need to play the games. I have YZero sitting here, ready to jump into. If I really like it, I will most likely progress to Kiwamii 1&2 and then the PS3 remasters Hoping to have the series cleaned though by the time... what is it called "Legend?"... release here in the West.

[TwinsUltra64]

I own only Zero, tomorrow I will start this game. I hope I will enjoy it

[TheDorkyDane]

I own only Zero, tomorrow I will start this game. I hope I will enjoy it

I hope so to! The Side quests, the side quests is what makes it funny! You WANT to read the dialogue, it is really funny.

Oh Japan and their odd sense of humor, it is delightful. They just... Don't care.

Wait till you meet. "Stephen Spinner." making a movie with. "Miracle Johnson." And that movie has Miracle Johnson doing his moonwalk next to all the zombies. Oh man, we are back in the eighties. And it is glorious.

No I am not joking, that is an actual side quest in that game.

Also remember the porn cards! Gotta collect them all! I mean, ahem. They are "Phone cards" yes... absolute... they just have bikini ladies on them... <_<

[TwinsUltra64]

I hope so to! The Side quests, the side quests is what makes it funny! You WANT to read the dialogue, it is really funny.

Oh Japan and their odd sense of humor, it is delightful. They just... Don't care.

Wait till you meet. "Stephen Spinner." making a movie with. "Miracle Johnson." And that movie has Miracle Johnson doing his moonwalk next to all the zombies. Oh man, we are back in the eighties. And it is glorious.

No I am not joking, that is an actual side quest in that game.

Also remember the porn cards! Gotta collect them all! I mean, ahem. They are "Phone cards" yes... absolute... they just have bikini ladies on them... <_<

Now, I can't wait to play it

[Musou Tensei]

Yeah I'm a huge fan now, back in the days I bought 1&2 at a flea market but couldn't really get into them, and then seeing how they treated Yakuza 3 in the west with the censorship (because apparently it's more acceptable to meet a woman at Smile Burger, date her 3 times and then bang her, just to go back to Smile Burger afterwards to find another woman at the same spot insted of getting them to know in the cabaret club, this was the most baffling localization decision) and releasing 5 only digitally here I never bothered but when they announced Zero and promised an accurate localization without censorship I decided to give the series another chance.

And now I'm here today, having played through (in chronological order) 0, Kiwami, 2 (my old PS2 copy), 3 (borrowed from my bother because it got no digital release for some reason) 4, 5 (bought digitally on PSN when they were on sale), 6 and even Dead Souls (was on the same sale as 4, and 5, it's actually not that bad). After that, since Kiwami 2 was still months away I decided to go even further and imported Kenzan for PS3 and Ishin for PS4 and played through them with the help of a fan translation, I also imported the 2 PSP games Kurohyou (literally Black Panther) but the fan translation for them isn't done yet so I'll wait. Afterwards I played Kiwami 2 and of course as a huge fan of Hokuto no Ken (my favorite anime (series) of all time) I got Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise as well, which reveal I consider one of the greatests game reveals ever.

And of course I'm very excited to go back to Kamurocho again this year in Judgment, played both japanese demos and loved them.

What I would really love to see is a 2nd FotNS game by them using the 2nd series (wouldn't mind the inclusion of the 3rd manga exclusive arc but no game ever did that I think).

[tejotl (Polish Bear)]

Yakuza was awesome for quite some time back to ps2 era. I'm really happy that SEGA changed their approach when it comes to releasing that series outside of Japan. Yakuza 0 definitely stands out. Too bad we will get only remasters of 3,4 and 5 instead of remakes but it is still better than having to plug my ps3 again.

I downloaded the demo for judge eyes and I gotta say I was really dissapointed since it feels like an awkward re-skin of Yakuza with no real added value. Will wait for NA/EU release but I won't jump too hastly on that game.

[Murray]

I haven't played much of the Yakuza series yet. I started playing Yakuza 0 for a bit and I'm really liking the presentation quality. The graphics are very crisp and the story and controlls are both stellar. I'm not a fan of having to look for people to talk to in order to find quests, but I guess that's just a typical Yakuza thing. Series seem very good so far.

[TheDorkyDane]

I haven't played much of the Yakuza series yet. I started playing Yakuza 0 for a bit and I'm really liking the presentation quality. The graphics are very crisp and the story and controlls are both stellar. I'm not a fan of having to look for people to talk to in order to find quests, but I guess that's just a typical Yakuza thing. Series seem very good so far.

Well you don't have to do any side quests to finish the story.... But you want to. You really want to. two thirds of the game is the side quests and that is where all the fun and charm comes from. The way they really flesh out the area and world itself through side quests is quite amazing.

[Murray]

I figured as much. I still have to look around, talking to NPCs to further the story though.

[TheDorkyDane]

You can get a gadget fairly on that if you equip it it shows you where the side quests are.

Also you don't talk to NPC's to trigger side quests, you just walk into the right area, then a small scene happens, then you can choose to start the side quest by go talking to them after the scene, or just move on and they will still be standing there later.

So really, you don't talk to anyone. You just walk all across the map and into all the buildings. And again the gadget you get will showcase any available side quests on the map.