Board 8 > How are the middle Yakuza games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I played Yakuza 0 in December and loved it. I want to play Like a Dragon but figured I should play the others first, especially with them being on GamePass. But I just finished Kiwami and I really wasn't feeling it; it just felt so tedious after a certain point. Enemies were HP sponges that never posed a threat, and so many attacks just knock Kiryu to the ground. I never died, yet battles felt endless.

I like the narrative and the style and the combat itself, but I'm not sure how much I want to tackle the next 5; are these problems exclusive to Kiwami?

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Kiwami 1 is the worst I've played (currently halfway through 4).
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I can't speak for the rest of the series but Kiwami 2 is a major step up over Kiwami 1 due to an engine change. And as you note Kiwami 1 is a step down from Yakuza 0 because of the bad boss design. I'm not all the way through Kiwami 2 but so far it the inventory streamlining and making weapons accessible and good, plus getting rid of the stupid Kiwami Actions shit where you had to interrupt bosses from restoring tons of HP makes it much more quick and fun.

If they're all on Gamepass I'd give Kiwami 2 a shot. You don't even necessarily have to complete Kiwami 1 if you can't stand it that much - there's a fairly detailed optional recap of 1 at the start of the game if you are so inclined.

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I would check out Kiwami 2 at least, just so you can see the new engine (the Dragon engine, which they've used since Y6). Kiwami is one of the worst in the series imo.

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As long as Kiwami 1 is an outlier, I'm probably good to go. Everything besides the bosses and some of the later fights have been fine. The sidestories are a step down from 0, but I figure that's more the original game's writing than anything else.

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I assume a lot of the bad bosses are holdovers from the original 1, but I have no intention of finding out if that's true or not first-hand.
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The engine jump from Kiwami 2 to remastered 3 is even more severe.

Its a touuuuuugh transition.

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I ended this game with 2000+ unspendable experience; I'm trying to think of the last game where i maxed everything out without trying.

I also loved the concept of Majima Everywhere; too bad it was also bogged down by the low threat/high HP design.

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kevwaffles posted...

I assume a lot of the bad bosses are holdovers from the original 1, but I have no intention of finding out if that's true or not first-hand.

They actually improved the bosses from what I've heard!

Yakuza 1 was not a very balanced game.

Kiwami 2 is much better on the whole.

Oh no!

I'm in kimawim the first too, is it "that bad"?

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Its not horrible or even bad per se, but throughout it is impossible not to compare it negatively to 0 if youve played it. Its actually why I might start recommending people NOT start with 0

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I think it's overall fine - it's just that being 'fine' was not enough for me to want to commit to 5 more without reassurance that it got better.

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WazzupGenius00 posted...

Its not horrible or even bad per se, but throughout it is impossible not to compare it negatively to 0 if youve played it. Its actually why I might start recommending people NOT start with 0

I had watched an LP of 0 before playing 1 and let me tell you, the plot of the game is so much worse when you can only half-remember stuff from 0. It would probably be worse with no context.

Going back to play 0 after knowing the events of 1 is pretty funny at least.

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I'm playing 3 right now and I rank it behind Kiwami 1, but mainly because it's so obviously aged at this point. However, it seems very easy to get through quickly if you wanted to. I'm on Chapter 9 of 12 and they've been going by very quickly once I start doing the main story missions. I've largely been only doing substories since the mini games all feel like worse versions of everything I've done in the previous games (which makes sense and not something I necessarily hold against it).

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Kiwami 1 is handily my least favorite game outside of the original 1. Just feels like a cheap expansion to 0 gameplay-wise and content-wise is way too hampered by its rigid following of the original. Kiwami 2 is better by leaps and bounds, as are 3-5 though you'll feel the age of the latter games coming off of Kiwami 2 being your first experience with the new engine.

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Personally I thought 3 had a much better story than K1, which was enough to make it better than K1 despite the more archaic gameplay. I actually liked 3 more than K2, even! Was not a fan of the villains in the first few games...
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Kiwami 1 is the first one I played and I loved it and immediately wanted to play more and luckily Kiwami 2 was releasing in a few weeks at that point so I got that right away

I loved that one too, but I think it burned me out enough on the gameplay that I havent gotten around to playing another until Like a Dragon came out.

thinking I might try out 0 next but also tempted to try 3 because (like a dragon spoiler) I want to know what Saejimas deal is... but I guess hes not until 4 so thats a lot of Yakuza to get through
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4/5 are the Saejima games.
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This is all good to hear because I just finished Kiwami 1 and enjoyed it a lot, despite it being way less fun combat wise compared to 0. It makes me very excited to dive into Kiwami 2 in a couple months.

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0, 5 and Kiwami 2 are the best ones in my opinion.

0 is my favorite and also the first Yakuza game I played to completion. 5 is the biggest Yakuza game and while the pacing is an issue at times, the stakes feel like it has never been bigger and serves as the true finale of Kiryu.
Kiwami 2 has my favorite villain and female lead in the series. A very intriguing story and good combat. A huge step up over Kiwami 1.

6 is good but serves more as an epilogue to the Kazuma Kiryu saga. The combat feels jankier than 5, 0 and Kiwami 2. Some plot elements feel tacked on but overall a very enjoyable conclusion.

Kiwami 1 while good has many gameplay flaws to call it great. It feels quite unpolished after coming from 0. But I like the story.

4 is like 5 but everything is jankier (gameplay, story and character interaction) and stakes are lower. It has some ridiculous plot elements that is ludicrous even by Yakuza standards. It introduces one of my favorite characters in the series though and while everything in 4 is worse than 5, his part is the only thing that is done much better.

3 is my least favorite in the series and mostly for gameplay reasons. The story is actually pretty good and it has some very memorable moments. My favorite sidekick in the series as well. The gameplay and side content is the worst though. Combat is a tedious blockfest, sub stories are the weakest it has even been and generally this is the Yakuza game that truly shows it's age.

I'm playing Like a Dragon right now taking my sweet time. I thought I will wait till the PS5 version but I caved and started playing the PS4 one. I'm at Chapter 10 right now and so far I think it ranks up there with the best. I don't wanna jump to conclusions yet so I will wait until I have beaten the game and the dust settles.

SHINE Ranks

5
2
7
0
6
4
1
3

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One thing that I was not expecting from the Kiwami 1 story was (0 and Kiwami 1 spoiler) that it would essentially tie-up the story of nearly every single major character from 0. I assumed that 0 was the origin for all the major recurring characters we'd see throughout the series, and then they just went and killed off almost all of them. Nishiki being the main antagonist was definitely a bruh moment for me as well.

It's the main reason why I'm so excited for Kiwami 2, because I have no idea where it can go from here.

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Fun Fact: Majima is voiced in the original PS2 Yakuza game by Mark Hamill, who said he had no memory of the role when asked a few years back.

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https://youtu.be/DxgeniKPik4

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I've been spending the evening with Kiwami 2 and it feels a lot better - though I am kinda starting to get sick of the minigames (if I have to play UFO Catcher one more time...)

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It trains you to go to an actual arcade and win at UFO catcher

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ninkendo posted...

It trains you to go to an actual arcade and win at UFO catcher

Actual arcade? I think you've bought into the fantasy of this series.

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Not only arcades, but Club Segas are still very much a thing in Japan. Though I guess the big one in Akihabara closed back in August.

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There is an arcade near where I grew up that's still in operation that has a bunch of Japanese cabinets (mainly fighting games) but also all these Sega ufo catchers

Although they also have a bunch of modern stuff last time I was there was the 1st time I got to play the Mario kart arcade game

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Yeah arcades are super big in Japan to this day.

greengravy294 posted...

Oh no!

I'm in kimawim the first too, is it "that bad"?

Not at all! Kiwami is an 8/10.

It's a great game overall. But I feel it lacks the impact of Yakuza 0 for a few reasons. It lacks a few of the best mini-games, like dancing, hostess club, and the real estate thing. I also prefer the battle system revolving around the 3 instead of shoehorning Dragon into it right at the start.

Mr. Shakedown was more exciting than Majima Everywhere.

However, you will still love the writing and subquests of Kiwami. It's more like the "lesser" in a series that, so far, I haven't played a bad game in yet.

The *only* game I felt iffy about was Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. It uses the older Yakuza engine (read: Kiwami) but the traveling around the wasteland and no taxis really made it feel like a bunch of unneeded padding. 7/10 game but still solid thanks to excellent combat, solid mini-games, and subquests.

Right now, it's like 0 > Kiwami 2 > Judgment > Kiwami > Lost Paradise.

I'm going to start Yakuza 3 soon.

tcaz2 posted...

Yeah arcades are super big in Japan to this day.

A major reason why I miss conventions. MomoCon and Ichibancon invited Tokyo Attack which had Initial-D, DDR and all of its similar games, Taiko no Tatsujin, Rhythm Tengoku, and so much more.

Not only are cons absent during COVID but TokyoAttack closed their business too. So even when cons come back they won't be there to supply cabinets anymore.

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