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

[Kayin Amoh]

7 hours ago, MardiganX said:

Eh hello

 

So I know less than nothing about Yakuza games. I do like and have played a lot of RPGs but the Yakuza stuff has never interested me. With Like a Dragon dropping on PS Plus I'm going to finally see what all the fuss is about but note that this one switches the combat to turn-based and was wondering how do established Yakuza game players feel about this?

 

It's fucking excellent and 99.99% of people love it. 

[Mr. Gerbik]

7 hours ago, MardiganX said:

Eh hello

 

So I know less than nothing about Yakuza games. I do like and have played a lot of RPGs but the Yakuza stuff has never interested me. With Like a Dragon dropping on PS Plus I'm going to finally see what all the fuss is about but note that this one switches the combat to turn-based and was wondering how do established Yakuza game players feel about this?

IT'S THE BEST GAME EVER

[MardiganX]

Does Kasuga continue to be a complete moron beyond the start of chapter 2 or is it just the scene setting routine he is still going through? It’s the kind of thing that works if you, as the player, are going through the same journey as him and can understand his reactions to things but at the moment he is behaving like a guy that time travelled 18 years into the future rather than just spent those years in prison.

[joffocakes]

5 minutes ago, MardiganX said:

Does Kasuga continue to be a complete moron beyond the start of chapter 2 

 

Yes he does and it is great I love him.

[Qazimod]

I feel like Kasuga is kind of smart in terms of understanding the ways of the world and being in tune with his own morals and things*, but "emotionally" he's a big dumb himbo and he can't help but overreact and cause a scene all of the time. He's ace.

 

*plus I had him do a bunch of those exams

[MardiganX]

I should have clarified. Kasuga isn’t the problem. I am the problem. I just needed to get things clear before I throw myself fully into the madness

[Kayin Amoh]

3 hours ago, Kayin Amoh said:

 

It's fucking excellent and 99.99% of people love it. 

 

Just to clarify further, 0.01% of people are drooling idiots and their opinions can be easily dismissed.

[carlospie]

3 million yen?!? My journey ends here. 

[Laters]

3 minutes ago, carlospie said:

3 million yen?!? My journey ends here. 

 

You make that pretty easily doing property management, it's also really fun ( at least for me it was )

 

[Qazimod]

Spoiler

Please Find My Cat sidequest reward: ¥1m

Capture the Kappa sidequest reward: ¥2m

 

Google their locations if you have to.

[carlospie]

Back in the game thanks! 👍

[danbot]

6 hours ago, Totoro said:

 

You make that pretty easily doing property management, it's also really fun ( at least for me it was )

 

 

Also worth doing for all the other good reasons. 

[carlospie]

The management game is so fun. Got to rank 8 and made 5 mil.

 

I really love this game. If it hadnt been on gamepass I wouldnt have touched it. Some of the one liners in battle are so funny. I have one character who is a chef who just runs around hitting people with frying pans for added comedy value. 

 

[cubik]

After an epic 80+ hours of karaoke, dodgy bars, sex shops, taking exams, fighting, family conflict and major drama I've finally finished it.

 

As a newcomer to the series, I genuinely had no idea what to expect and only downloaded it from PS+ to see if it was any good. It turned out to be one of my new all time favourite games and I absolutely loved it from start to finish. I can't praise the story, characters, acting etc. enough, especially Ichiban who really grows as the game progresses.

 

Spoiler

So much humour and crazy stuff going on, I didn't expect to fund a new vacuum cleaner, help a faded film star revamp his career or meet a big old guy dressed as a baby. I also didn't expect to be running round using a massive magic wand sex toy as a weapon for part of the game.

 

I made some fundamental errors in the first 20/30 hours of play. I didn't realise you had to go to the bar to increase the character bond level so once I started doing that I was well behind where I should have been. I also spent all my money to buy new weapons rather than upgrading the ones I had.

 

The only negative I have is that when I was first forced into it, I really could have done without the business minigame. After a good few days avoiding it and then reading a few guides it finally made sense and once I'd reached number 1 position it was easy to pop back and earn a cool 3 million each time.

 

I'll definitely miss trying to stay awake during movies, running round the park looking for beetles, and fighting random sex pest looking baddies.

 

From what I've read, this one is pretty unique in the series as to how it plays but I'll still give the others a go.

PS+ is currently full of Yakuza titles, any recommendations as to which ones to play & avoid?

[lordscotland]

9 minutes ago, cubik said:

After an epic 80+ hours of karaoke, dodgy bars, sex shops, taking exams, fighting, family conflict and major drama I've finally finished it.

 

As a newcomer to the series, I genuinely had no idea what to expect and only downloaded it from PS+ to see if it was any good. It turned out to be one of my new all time favourite games and I absolutely loved it from start to finish. I can't praise the story, characters, acting etc. enough, especially Ichiban who really grows as the game progresses.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

So much humour and crazy stuff going on, I didn't expect to fund a new vacuum cleaner, help a faded film star revamp his career or meet a big old guy dressed as a baby. I also didn't expect to be running round using a massive magic wand sex toy as a weapon for part of the game.

 

I made some fundamental errors in the first 20/30 hours of play. I didn't realise you had to go to the bar to increase the character bond level so once I started doing that I was well behind where I should have been. I also spent all my money bought new weapons rather than upgrading the ones I had.

 

The only negative I have is that when I was first forced into it, I really could have done without the business minigame. After a good few days avoiding it and then reading a few guides it finally made sense and once I'd reached number 1 position it was easy to pop back and earn a cool 3 million each time.

 

I'll definitely miss trying to stay awake during movies, running round the park looking for beetles, and fighting random sex pest looking baddies.

 

From what I've read, this one is pretty unique in the series as to how it plays but I'll still give the others a go.

PS+ is currently full of Yakuza titles, any recommendations as to which ones to play & avoid?

Zero is probably your best bet to sample the action play style. If you enjoy that one you’ll be good with the rest although zero is prob the best of that playstyle imho

[joffocakes]

Yeah, definitely get Yakuza 0 next and go from there. I started with Like A Dragon too and absolutely adored it. Moved onto Zero and then Kiwami and now Kiwami 2. It's fascinating seeing Kamurocho change over the decades but remaining familiar, like visiting an old friend. A weird old friend.

[Kromeo]

Counter point: Lost Judgment.

 

It has the best brawler gameplay of the series, thanks to the inclusion of the parry-laden Snake style. And it also takes place in Yokohama (which you’re now intimately familiar with) but it will still manage to show you different ‘sides’ of it.

 

It has quickly become my second favorite Yakuza game.

[Kayin Amoh]

The Kaito files are immense too, the lovable scallywag. Though I'd still opt for Zero first, then maybe Lost Judgment.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I'd advise Zero before Lost Judgment. Zero is far closer in tone, pacing, and general zaniness to LaD and it will serve as a fantastic introduction to both the main Kiryu saga (0 to 6) and as a set-up to the Judgment spinoff in terms of background story, a who's who in Kamurocho, and the action combat in general.

 

Before Lost Judgment I'd play the first Judgment, the story follows on from that first game and there's very little between them in terms of quality. Lost Judgment, like most Yakuza games, also stands very well on its own but now that you've already experienced how good these games are you might as well go for the optimal, chronological wild rollercoaster ride of the rest of the series.

[joemul]

Took me a while to get into this (first few hours are very basic) but now it’s brilliant. I’m sloping off for a quick half hour during the day and staying up late to put a couple of hours in. 

[Kromeo]

8 hours ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

Before Lost Judgment I'd play the first Judgment, the story follows on from that first game and there's very little between them in terms of quality.

 

I found Judgment to be a slog, to be honest, especially compared to its predecessor. It took ages for the story to get going, and a lot of its minigames were beyond dull, including many of its prerequisite ones, like the tailing missions. I don't think I'll ever revisit that game.

Lost Judgment, on the other hand, is instant, relentless fun, and I genuinely wouldn't mind replaying all of it. Also: it lets you beat up bratty Gen Z'ers, so it's immediately better than most games in general.

 

EDIT: And: let's not forget about Lost Paradise! It's a Yakuza game where you get to play as Kenshiro and make heads explode. It's up there with LAD, 0 and Lost Judgment, IMHO.

[joffocakes]

Is lost paradise still worth playing if you've no interest in the cartoon?

[Mr. Gerbik]

19 minutes ago, joffocakes said:

Is lost paradise still worth playing if you've no interest in the cartoon?

Of course, why wouldn't it? Think of it as a Yakuza game set in a Japanese version of Mad Max. Does that sound appealing or what?

[joffocakes]

Stop this, I need excuses to skip some of the games.

Tempted now to skip to Judgment after Kiwami 2 rather than doing 3, 4, 5, 6 first. I've heard 3 (and 4 and 5?) feel more obviously clunky and old school than the others though so maybe going from Judgment's more modern iteration of the engine to 3 would be even more jarring?

 

Then there's Ishin in February which i think is completely separate from everything story wise? I'd kinda like to be playing a Yakuza game alongside everyone else rather than years late so maybe that will be the next one actually.

 

I'm glad Like A Dragon 8 isn't until 2024 as I'd really like to be caught up by the time it releases.

 

 

[Let us measure]

1 hour ago, joffocakes said:

Is lost paradise still worth playing if you've no interest in the cartoon?

 

It absolutely is! I knew nothing about FotNS when I played it apart from the obvious 'Omae wa mou shindeiru', which, when it is eventually, inevitably dropped in the game, is one of the hypest moments in the whole RGG series.

[Kromeo]

8 hours ago, joffocakes said:

Is lost paradise still worth playing if you've no interest in the cartoon?

I knew nothing about FotNS apart from “you’re already dead” originating from it.

 

I loved it. 

[TomatoConvenienceStore]

On 26/12/2022 at 18:20, cubik said:

.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

.

 

I made some fundamental errors in the first 20/30 hours of play. I didn't realise you had to go to the bar to increase the character bond level so once I started doing that I was well behind where I should have been.

 

 

Dammmn I didn't know I read supposed to do that 😭 

 

I'm about 15 hours in, maybe more. Idk. My party is around level 22.

 

I'm also not used to job/class systems and not sure if I should switch jobs for my characters or keep leveling up the ones I chose. 

 

Overall loving the game, and have played through all other mainline entries. Not as good as a few of the others, but miles better than most.

[SteveH]

 I sat on this for ages as I thought the turn based battle system would make exploring a bit of a chore. It is now up there as probably being my joint favourite Yakuza game ever. Loved every minute of it. Though I REALLY wish they wouldn't put ridiculously long sections at the end of the game, where you can't save at all. It's a hell of a chunk of time to put aside to get to the end. 

[Mr. Gerbik]

3 minutes ago, SteveH said:

. Though I REALLY wish they wouldn't put ridiculously long sections at the end of the game, where you can't save at all. It's a hell of a chunk of time to put aside to get to the end. 

I would have agreed with you on previous generations but nowadays with Quick Resume it was not a problem at all. You can take a break whenever you want and pick it back up when you have the time. A godsend.

[MidWalian]

What a guy.

One of my favourite characters in any video game.  Looking forward to the next adventure.