Yakuza (7): Like a Dragon - Gotta Dispatch 'Em All!

[Harsin]

I know that there's already some talk about this game in the Yakuza megathread. But sod it, megathreads suck and deserve to be beaten with a bicycle until they apologise and give you a gold plate.

 

There's a new Yakuza game on the horizon, so everybody dance!

 

 

We bid farewell to one man army, ladies' man, real estate mogul, disco champion, scalextric expert and Space Harrier high score holder, Kazuma Kiryu. Kiryu never ever killed a man and also had a beautiful singing voice.

 

 

In his place we now have some guy called Ichiban Kasuga.

 

 

Apparently he's *checks notes* a fairly low level part of the Arakawa Family, a subsidiary of the Tojo Clan, is returning to Kamurocho after a long in stint prison and is a big fan of the Dragon Quest series of games.

 

The biggest departure so far seems to be doing away with the series' signature brawler style combat and replacing it with a turn based system.

 

 

I have some mixed feelings in this. I'm apprehensive that this kind of system will really slow the game down and it'll be frustrating if you end having drawn out fights against random mooks on the street when you're just trying to get to the nearest Hostess Club for some wholesome family enetertainment. On the other hand I have a hell of a lot faith in the developers who have made what turned out to probably be my favourite series of games this generation.

 

Apart from that, it looks like this will be a more grounded take on the subject matter, offering a gritty unflinching view of organised crime and the Tokyo underworld.

 

It's being released in Japan on 16 January next year and then coming to our shores at some point in 2020.

[Let us measure]

I too was massively WTF when they announced that Yakuza 7 would be a DQ-inspired JRPG. Like Dragon Quest however - a) No one in the West gives a shit, and b) It's one of the best series of games ever - so I'm fairly confident I'll much enjoy whatever it is RGG Studio pump out next year.

 

I will miss the brawling though...  I'm keeping my premium adventure save of Judgement nearby just in case I get the urge to mash buttons on goons, but the JRPG mechanics are going to give Y7 a very different flavour.

 

And Kasuga has some damn big singing boots to fill...

 

Judgement Kazzy

[Qazimod]

People might call the turn-based system controversial, but personally it’s the first Yakuza game I’ve been interested in for a while. I like the games that I played but came into the series super-late, so I haven’t really been inclined to go through every one unless a game is different enough for me to take interest.

 

The turn-based combat and party system sounds nuts at first but kind of makes sense - Yakuza already had “random encounters” and even those sometimes felt like you were waiting before acting - watching an enemy’s attack, going in during the recovery frames, getting out as another enemy prepares to strike... I understand the fears about slowing the pace, but some of the best turn-based battle systems have ways to optimise your strategy so that battles are swift whilst still making you think. I’m looking forward to finding out more...  

[RubberJohnny]

It's a weird choice, there's little overlap between fans of action combat and JRPG turn-based combat, and their hiding of the new gameplay in trailers and interviews being like "the action combat might come back in future!" implies that it's not gone down well over there either.

 

I'm up for it, because I do like both, but looking at the reaction I'm thinking it's the sort of thing that would have made sense for a spinoff.

[mr_woo]

Honestly the Japanese fanbase have taken it worse than the western fanbase. In part I'm really annoyed with the change as there's no other series like Yakuza with its combat but at the same time I trust the studio to do it well. We shall see how it turns out soon enough.

[Garwoofoo]

It’s a series that can do no wrong in my eyes so I trust the devs implicitly on this one. After seven games with very very similar systems, a shake-up is no bad thing. 

[womblingfree]

After about 16 Yakuza games, including spin-offs not including remakes, I’m happy to see them try out a new system. It’s not like there won’t be a chance to return to brawling if it doesn’t work.

 

The guys and gals behind these games are super talented so worry level is low.

[mr_woo]

So Sega had a Yakuza 7 stream today showing off the gameplay/combat.  The video should start at the gameplay but if not it starts at 12min 50secs in.  I'm still not overly convinced tbh but it doesn't look too bad at all.

 

 

[Harsin]

If that's how long it takes to take out random chumps wandering the street en route to destinations, compared to the equivalent in the current games, I'm a bit worried.

[mr_woo]

3 minutes ago, Harsin said:

If that's how long it takes to take out random chumps wandering the street en route to destinations, compared to the equivalent in the current games, I'm a bit worried.

 

 

To be fair it looks much easier to avoid them this time, they don't run after you and you need to get close and hang around to initiate battles rather than just brushing past them.  So you should still be able to pick and choose when you want to fight.  There'll probably be items to help with encounters/reducing them as well.

 

That said I do agree, usually a few quick punches and kicks and you're done, definitely takes a bit longer.

[deKay]

MOD EDIT: Yakuza 6 spoilers

 

KIRYU IS BACK.

 

 

[Calashnikov]

MOD EDIT: Yakuza 6 spoilers

 

^Bit of a Yakuza 6 spoiler in that it confirms Kiryu survives Yakuza 6. I haven’t played Yakuza 6 yet and I wondered if Kiryu maybe dies in Yakuza 6. Now I know he definitely doesn’t. O well!

[SozzlyJoe]

@Calashnikov You make a good point. It is kind of a spoiler, though perhaps not quite in the way you think. I've added spoiler tags just in case, better safe than sorry!

 

[Harsin]

Bit disappointed they're bringing him back already. Judgement got it right with a couple of fun nods only fans would get. It doesn't exactly scream confidence from the team about the new guy.[/spoiler ]

[Aurelius]

This is a great run down of the demo. Really hyped. Sounds like a love letter to traditional JRPG's.

 

 

Having to go to the unemployment office to change job classes 

 

[Kayin Amoh]

I donwloaded the Japanese demo. Can't wait, though the battle system is a huge ass shift. Not a bad one, but it's now a completely different genre in some respects, with the real world overlapping into these systems in some truly bizarre ways.

 

Want it now.

[RubberJohnny]

 

[Keyboard Koala]

A bit OT, but I've been looking to get into this series for ages, and I was wondering what the best game would be to play first?

[Mr Ben]

18 minutes ago, Keyboard Koala said:

A bit OT, but I've been looking to get into this series for ages, and I was wondering what the best game would be to play first?

Yakuza Zero, though it will likely colour the way you think of any subsequent Yakuza game going forward from that, as to be honest, its also the best one.

[ryodi]

 

[gossi the dog]

This is up for pre-order on PSN. Out 13 November. English dub and there’s a PS5 version too.

 

More info here

 

https://www.ign.com/articles/yakuza-like-a-dragon-ps5-series-x-english-dub-george-takei-release-date

[HarryBizzle]

 

 

November 13. Smart delivery on Xbox (and November). PS5 version "coming soon" - which is probably at launch but they can't say when.

[Ferine]

On 24/08/2020 at 22:34, HarryBizzle said:

PS5 version "coming soon" - which is probably at launch but they can't say when.

Apparently not:

 

I guess Xbox paid for limited timed exclusivity? Feels oddly short, but also too long a gap if it was just a case of the PS5 version not being done yet.

 

Anyway, it would feel strange switching platforms at this point so I guess I'll see if the digital PS4 version is in a sale between now and March.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Kiwami 1, 2, and Zero not only came over to Xbox, all three were available on game pass day one. So there have been successful dealings between Microsoft and Sega regarding Yakuza for awhile now, and from that perspective the limited time exclusivity isn't that weird or unexpected. 

 

I'd assume that the PS4 version would be perfectly playable on PS5 though. 

[mdn2]

 

[HarryBizzle]

That save data thing is a bit crap.

[Mr. Gerbik]

The smart delivery thing in Xbox guarantees saves work in both versions. So - with this and Miles Morales, have Sony fucked this up in regards to saves?

[moosegrinder]

It's not surprising, Sony couldn't make the saves between the digital and physical versions of some of their games.

[Mr. Gerbik]

14 minutes ago, moosegrinder said:

It's not surprising, Sony couldn't make the saves between the digital and physical versions of some of their games.

It's genuinely surprising to me because a new generation, especially one with similar and compatible hardware and development software, would be an opportunity to make all this work from this point onwards.

 

So there's zero sense in starting the PS4 version on BC if at some point you want to continue with the PS5 version. That's not ideal.

[moosegrinder]

Thinking about the problems between digital and physical working it must be the limitations of the dumb shit they've got going on under the PS4 OS. It's garbage.