All things Yakuza/Like a Dragon! - new games announced

[Kinketsu]

Yeah the main quest is about 12-15 hours but there are almost 100 side quests to do, and most of them involve just enjoyable face smashing, so why not give them a go?

[hughes]

Completed yakuza 2 last night, magnificent game.

It's a series that deserves to be bigger than it is in my opinion, overlooked by too many.

[cassidy]

Completed yakuza 2 last night, magnificent game.

It's a series that deserves to be bigger than it is in my opinion, overlooked by too many.

I've not completed it yet, but I have to agree, I've not played anything bar this since it entered the PS3 last week. Over 9 hrs done now and only on Chapter 5, which is where you realise just how big the game is. AS I spent about 1hr 30 wandering around and still didnt cover all of the map.

[hughes]

My game clock finished at 29 hours and my stats showed I had only done 28% of the side missions.

A lot bigger than I was expecting. All that for fifteen quid, too.

[MickMarmalade]

Finally managed to pull myself away from FIFA and get back to this.There's so much game in here for £15 it's untrue.I'm only on Chapter 7 and I've already clocked 13 hours or so.Spent about 3 hours the other night not touching the story and just went wandering around to see what i could find.It was a nice suprise when i came across the Be My Baby side mission .Roll on Yakuza 3

[womblingfree]

Yakuza 2 finally turned up from DVD Boxoffice.

I'm quite gob-smacked by the first couple of hours. The story and drama are just excellent. Is it just me or are the cut-scenes some of the best in any videogame ever? Well written, well acted and facial animation that gives the individual characters real personality. Puts GTA's cut-scenes to shame in a lot of ways.

The extension of the Heat moves seems to work a treat. Throwing people off balconies isn't going to get old any time soon.

The game found an old Yakuza 1 save when I booted up for the first time. Is that where all my Haruka goodies came from?

[Sabreman]

Yeah, there's a brief message that pops up saying she's left some stuff in your item box.

[cassidy]

Spent about 3 hours the other night not touching the story and just went wandering around to see what i could find.It was a nice suprise when i came across the Be My Baby side mission .Roll on Yakuza 3

Just did that one myself. Most hilarious it was.

[womblingfree]

Got to raise 300,000 yen for some info. WHere can U sell stuff? Don't seem to be enough hoods around to duff up for that kind of money and Mahjong is like trying to crack the enigma code!

[Kinketsu]

Glad you got the game, Wombling! Money raising came up again about page 13, I can't repost what was said because I'm on a PS3, but basically if you're sure it's a situation in which you definitely have to pay the money (I can only think of one off the top of my head) then the best way to raise it is by beating people up and selling their shit off at the second hand shop, and maybe even selling some stuff you got out of lockers there.

[womblingfree]

if you're sure it's a situation in which you definitely have to pay the money...

It does seem an awful lot of money to have to hand over, especially as I just gave the guy 100,000 (it's the guy in the Mahjong parlour early on).

I'll chat around and see if there's another way. Otherwise, where's the second hand shop??

Edit: Aaah, the pawn shop.

[Monkichi 3.0]

Just noticed this on Gametrailers

Extended Presentation 20 minutes long!

Unfortunately some maroon's got his fucking head in the way of the bottom a bit, but it's still very watchable. In fact, I'm watching it now!

Fucking hell!!!!! Jesus this game alone would have validated my PS3 purchase. JESUS!!!!

[cassidy]

It does seem an awful lot of money to have to hand over, especially as I just gave the guy 100,000 (it's the guy in the Mahjong parlour early on).

I'll chat around and see if there's another way. Otherwise, where's the second hand shop??

Wander around for a bit, I'm sure there's someone you can talk to who tells you to go to the bar Shiji(IIRC) and talk to the barman there.

I didnt want to spend the 300,000 either but I didnt need to after doing this.

I just realised that I may not play this for a while once I get Fable 2 tomorrow. Dont know whether to wait

[womblingfree]

Fucking hell!!!!! Jesus this game alone would have validated my PS3 purchase. JESUS!!!!

That's a Habu snake on that Okinawan yakuza's back by the way. It's indigenous to Okinawa and you can buy alcohol with it in.

Other Okinawan delicacies are soki-soba, a spare rib noodle dish, and goya-champuru, which is bitter melon and scrambled egg.

Both are almost certain to make an appearance in the game, so get cooking to put yourself in the mood

[Kinketsu]

I'm sorry I havent been updating this thread as often as I'd like, my PC is still out of comisssion and doing everything via PS3 is a bit annoying. Anyway some news, if you log into the Japanese PS Store you'll be able to download a teasrr trailer for the game. The teaser seems to be fudged together out of previous trailers and I didnt spot any new footage, but it is a chance to see some of the game models in HD.

Famitsu also ran another piece on the game this week, showing again the pursuit system that kicks in when an enemy tries to flee (likely to be a rsre special or story event. I dont have the link but scans are up at Gamekyo!

[SuperBrother]

Looks great, cheers for the heads up.

I finally finished Y2 after getting back from holiday a couple of weeks ago, loved every minute. In fact, if not for Fallout 3 this would be a strong contender for my GOTY, you just can't beat a strong story intermeshed with hyperviolence.

I take it importing Kenzan would be a waste of time for the non-japanese speaker?

[womblingfree]

I take it importing Kenzan would be a waste of time for the non-japanese speaker?

Considering the amount of plot I'd say it was a non-starter without some language ability.

Although now that Kenzan's had a budget 'Best' version released it might be worth a punt.

[Robo_1]

Got to raise 300,000 yen for some info. WHere can U sell stuff? Don't seem to be enough hoods around to duff up for that kind of money and Mahjong is like trying to crack the enigma code!

I (sadly) abandoned the game at this point. I sold everything I had and beat a ton of people up to raise the 100,000 yen, so when he turned around and said, another 300 please, I played around for a bit, but couldn't be bothered. Roaming the streets hoping for a chance fight is just not fun, certainly not when you've got a stack of other games waiting to be played. Shame, as I was really enjoying it, but it seems if you're not prepared to learn how to play Mahjong, it's a bit of a road block to your progress.

I'd welcome any "get rich quick" ideas.

[womblingfree]

I (sadly) abandoned the game at this point. I sold everything I had and beat a ton of people up to raise the 100,000 yen, so when he turned around and said, another 300 please, I played around for a bit, but couldn't be bothered.

I'd welcome any "get rich quick" ideas.

You don't have to give him a penny! Just go and chat to the bloke on the bridge.

Always seemed a bit unlikely that the game would make you get such an enormous amount so early on.

[Robo_1]

You don't have to give him a penny! Just go and chat to the bloke on the bridge.

Always seemed a bit unlikely that the game would make you get such an enormous amount so early on.

Holy shit, great news!

Is there anything to indicate which bloke you have to talk to, or will a speech bubble just appear when you get close to him? Really though, I can't wait to return to it if that's the case

[womblingfree]

Holy shit, great news!

Is there anything to indicate which bloke you have to talk to, or will a speech bubble just appear when you get close to him? Really though, I can't wait to return to it if that's the case

I seem to remember he's standing by himself on the bridge that's to the right of the map, pretty easy to find. Just talk to everyone if you can't find him, there's not that many people really.

[Kinketsu]

The release date is now solid, Yakuza 3 will be releasd in Japan on February 26th 2009!

[womblingfree]

The release date is now solid, Yakuza 3 will be releasd in Japan on February 26th 2009!

Christmas 2010 for the UK then? Hopefully see Kenzan sometime in 2009.

Here's wishing for a worldwide release. Probably about as likely as world peace.

[Kinketsu]

Christmas 2010 for the UK then? Hopefully see Kenzan sometime in 2009.

Here's wishing for a worldwide release. Probably about as likely as world peace.

I think it's more likely that they won't release Kenzan in the West at all now, and just go ahead with a release of Yakuza 3 for Christmas 2009 in the West.

A worldwide release (same time as the Japanese like) isn't going to happen, but I can see Europe and NA sitting down to Yakuza 3 next Christmas. I've noticed that there's been much more interest online in mainstream gamesites for Yakuza 3 than for the last couple of games. If Sega is clever they won't drag their heels about bringing it out this time, and go for a release schedule a bit closer to Yakuza 1.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Christmas 2009 in the West sounds likely, but it's still so far away.

Shame about Kenzan, but tbh Yakuza 3 will probably more than make up for it. If they ever decide to make a Kenzan 2 using the Y3 engine however, I would be extremely disappointed if they also kept that one to themselves. Walking around in an Edo city that looks as impressive and as detailed as the modern cities we've seen in the Y3 previews would be the best thing ever.

[womblingfree]

Shame about Kenzan,

Only conjecture at the moment!!! Hopefully we'll get at least a US release with subs like Yakuza 2. Whould'a thunk we'd ever have seen that game after all this time?!

[robdood]

Walking around in an Edo city that looks as impressive and as detailed as the modern cities we've seen in the Y3 previews would be the best thing ever.

Indeed, but - argh and I hate to be that guy - as wicked as the Yakuza 3 20 min video above looked, I just know it's going to play exactly the same.. You're going to get those awesome looking streets packed with people, but Kiryu's still running/walking a bit funny. Out of all those pedestrians, only a handful are interactive, and most of them seem to still have text chat instead of audio. There's loads of buildings but only a few will have insides; and even then most of them will be food shops! Hell, even the combat looks identical - the same combos and everything!

The minigames look awesome though, as does the way fights start in the street without a loading screen.

I'm not sure what I'm expecting really, but maaaan, I so want Y3 to be more than just a PS2 game in shiny clothes!

[womblingfree]

Indeed, but - argh and I hate to be that guy - as wicked as the Yakuza 3 20 min video above looked, I just know it's going to play exactly the same..

But now with karaoke and the chance to mentor your own AV Idol! Pretty sure they'll improve the combat and tweak stuff incrementaly with each version. Also the side-quests are varied and original enough to provide a new experience.

I so want Y3 to be more than just a PS2 game in shiny clothes!

The best PS2 games still piss on just about all next-gen stuff for depth and originality, so I'd be happy with that

[Kinketsu]

The Yakuza series are some of my favourite games ever so I don't need them to mess with it very much at all, just this little prettying up and getting rid of the sharp edges (loading screens, etc) will do a lot for me!

[ryodi]

My Christmas game this year was going to be Dragon Quest IV, I was a dozen hours into it and considering the pitiful number of games I have completed this year I thought I could easily do it by the new year. However after reading this thread and managing to pick up the original and Yakuza 2 relatively cheaply the first game is all I've been playing.

I'm currently up to Chapter 6 of the first game and apart from the loading screens and a few camera issues I'm loving it: the fighting system, random battles that don't bother me, the not entirely rubbish dub, the over the top swearing in seemingly every line of dialogue. I'm even finding the story gripping enough to keep me playing.