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

[Pungee]

On 19/11/2020 at 14:54, Pungee said:

Very specific use case here, I appreciate, but has anyone else started this on PS4 and is now having trouble moving their save over to a PS5? For some reason this is the only game that doesn't show up in my list of PS4 cloud saves on the PS5, despite it showing correctly on the PS4. 

I know that PS4 saves won't carry over to the fancy PS5 version in March but I was counting on my existing save working with the PS4 version of the game in backward compatible mode on the PS5...

In case anyone else runs into this - the saves were there on the cloud, it's just that PSN couldn't identify which game they were from. They appear at the bottom of the list with a generic grey Playstation logo. Once I manually downloaded them, the game was able to read them with no issues. Phew. 

[pledge]

The change to the combat was a nice novelty but I hope they change it back (although I expect they won't). My wife is a massive Yakuza fan, and basically the only games she plays or has ever played - with multiple play throughs of each. She gave this her lowest ever rating of 7/10. She didn't like the new combat at all and immediately went back to start Zero again rather than 100% this which she usually does.

[scissorkicks]

 

[Disgraced Toblerone]

Only on chapter 3 but absolutely loving this. It’s a bit cut scenes heavy (at the beginning at least) but it oozes charm (and I much prefer the rather basic JRPG turn based combat).

 

I think this is spot on by the way :

 

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/nov/23/yakuza-like-a-dragon-reinvents-middle-aged-men-video-games?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Gambit]

7 hours ago, pledge said:

The change to the combat was a nice novelty but I hope they change it back (although I expect they won't). My wife is a massive Yakuza fan, and basically the only games she plays or has ever played - with multiple play throughs of each. She gave this her lowest ever rating of 7/10. She didn't like the new combat at all and immediately went back to start Zero again rather than 100% this which she usually does.

 

I think this will stick to JRPG and the Judgment series is where the traditional Yakuza gameplay will live going forward.

[Keyboard Koala]

Oh, a Judgment sequel would be most welcome. 

 

Best Yakuza game imo, mainly because I never really got on with Kiryu as the protagonist. Takayuki was much more likable. 

[Retroguy]

This is such a great game- loving the new combat system, there’s so much content, and all the conversations are pretty smartly written with some nice little lines and translations in them. I’m hours in and still discovering more side activities!

 

The only niggle I’ve got is that the game makes the cardinal JRPG sin of not explaining what the stats do. Sure, most are obvious but when it comes to dexterity and accuracy, it’s far less clear. One is to do with turn order but isn’t consistent, and other is probably to do with critical hits, but no-one is totally sure. When there are masses of accessories in the game that affect them, what’s the point if you don’t explain what they do?? Also, the Japanese version of the game seems to tell you whether an enemy is weak to an attack when you target them before confirming, whereas that no longer seems to be in the international version. Means you have to keep consulting the enemy index thing if you’re up against tough enemies.

 

Those are little things though, it’s still great!

[Disgraced Toblerone]

I absolutely love how the heroes are people that usually, in our right wing current tory utopia, are considered as zeroes. Homeless people, civil servants, alcoholic, prostitutes and so on.

 

And some bad guy early in game are called in french "capitalists scum". Makes a nice change from rats or goblins.

 

It's brilliant. 

[deerokus]

Just started this on series x I feel like the cutscenes look way better than in the past. Some nice depth of field or something.  Judgement already had some good ones of course. 

 

Looking forward to getting stuck right in but early impressions are strong. 

[wev]

On 24/11/2020 at 08:34, Disgraced Toblerone said:

I absolutely love how the heroes are people that usually, in our right wing current tory utopia, are considered as zeroes. Homeless people, civil servants, alcoholic, prostitutes and so on.

 

And some bad guy early in game are called in french "capitalists scum". Makes a nice change from rats or goblins.

 

It's brilliant. 

It's basically Persona but with actual adults rather and high-school kids 

[gospvg]

21 minutes ago, wev said:

It's basically Persona but with actual adults rather and high-school kids 

 

Sold!

[Qazimod]

At Chapter 12 and pretty pleased with a new party addition...

 

Spoiler

Zhao! I honestly thought he was going to be an NPC forever, and I wasn't even sure that he was going to be an ally, so that's cool. That being said, the initial three party members have been pretty strong at the moment and I haven't really wanted to swap anyone out...  

 

3 hours ago, wev said:

It's basically Persona but with actual adults rather and high-school kids

 

As a fan of that series, it's something I genuinely wish Atlus would try. (P2:EP sort of qualifies, but you're still contending with classic gameplay  )

[wev]

Oh I'm a fan too, but I also love that this exists 

[moosegrinder]

https://www.shopto.net/en/ps4ya09-yakuza-like-a-dragon-p195357/?affiliate_source=aw&awc=2943_1606473574_8af53b28d55cbff53e633fe7785c9ed0

 

£36 on ShopTo

[Down by Law]

What's the deal with the Playstation version, are there any enhancements to it playing on PS5 as I noticed that boxed version isn't out till March next year?

[max renn]

On 26/11/2020 at 19:43, wev said:

It's basically Persona but with actual adults rather and high-school kids 

There’s a couple of persona cd’s for sale too so you can chill back at survive bar

[deerokus]

I just phoned poundmates. 

 

 

Omfg I love this game. Up there with 0 right now. 

[deerokus]

16 hours ago, Down by Law said:

What's the deal with the Playstation version, are there any enhancements to it playing on PS5 as I noticed that boxed version isn't out till March next year?

Not just now, it will get upgraded to the next gen version on ps5 then. 

 

The next gen version is a short timed exclusive for Xbox. It's a fairly basic but still decent upgrade, 1440p60 or 4k30. Stuff like reflections look better than I remember in the previous entries too. 

[Gambit]

I'm around Chapter 5/6 now and I have mixed opinions so far.

 

On the one hand, of course the writing, story and performances are all great. Love the new character of Ichiban, they could've just done a reskinned Kiryu type, but they avoided that thankfully and crafted someone completely unique to the Yakuza series.

 

I'm less taken with the combat system however. I love the moves, how silly it is, and just the general "this is how Ichiban see's the world" aesthetic. But it's clear as the reports say, at least in my eyes, that the turn based combat was a shockingly late addition. It's difficult to tell how wide the range is with certain attacks, and waiting for people to get into position can be tiresome. It's also difficult to avoid them on the map, with frequent battles popping up when all I want to do is hit Club Sega. Or more annoyingly, when I'm in one of those random chat moments, get caught in a battle, and then have to head back to where that chat started to trigger it again.

 

I see a lot of people on Twitter saying they hope the Yakuza series sticks with this JRPG style. While this probably is the future of Yakuza, I hope they continue at least one series (maybe Judgment?) that has the classic brawler combat.

[Retroguy]

I kinda like the fact that you’re not 100% sure how many people will get tagged in a group attack, for me it makes it more natural, but I wouldn’t object to having an AoE indicator. I’d certainly disagree that there are any signs the turn based combat system was a ‘shockingly late’ addition though- there are tons of classes, attack skills, group attacks etc, that alone means that just couldn’t be true. It just doesn’t feel like a tagged on feature at all, and with the amount of work it would take to implement, I just don’t see how that would be possible.

 

There are definitely things that could be tightened up for a sequel though- I’d agree with the issue of enemies moving around. I’d like to see them take ownership of this and add more mechanics for it, being able to freeze enemies in place and manipulate that movement, being able to move around yourself maybe and utilise the environment more etc.

 

For me, tank classes don’t work as effectively as they could. Being able to aggro enemies is far more random than it should be- it becomes a gamble that often isn’t worth taking as opposed to just doing more damage, which is a shame. I’d also like more thought to be put it to synergies between the classes each character learns themselves. Sure, you have like those two skills you can always use from any class, but it would be nice to have more depth there (Bravely Default does this really well) to develop cool hybrid classes.

 

Having said that, for their first attempt at a turn based system, it’s not bad at all, especially since they’re managed to transplant the whole yakuza world into it without really sacrificing anything. I much prefer it to the previous entries for the combat system, but it’d be great if they carried on with both types.

 

 

[Gambit]

51 minutes ago, Retroguy said:

I’d certainly disagree that there are any signs the turn based combat system was a ‘shockingly late’ addition though- there are tons of classes, attack skills, group attacks etc, that alone means that just couldn’t be true.

 

It is true though.

 

(Which admittedly may have skewed my opinion slightly and make me look for what was added late - as I read that article before playing)

[Retroguy]

1 hour ago, Gambit said:

 

It is true though.

 

(Which admittedly may have skewed my opinion slightly and make me look for what was added late - as I read that article before playing)

How many years was it in development before that? Not sure I’d call that ‘shockingly late’, but I suppose it probably is considering it’s the intrinsic gameplay element. It’s definitely impressive that they managed to do that in a year though. 
 

Actually, I remember reading that article before now, but it never seemed a consideration in the way it was implemented.

[Keyboard Koala]

Edge^tm  8 

 

Making this the highest rated Yakuza - since Yakuza 0 - game so far?

 

 

[Gambit]

Had a mess around with the different jobs.

 

Despite how delightfully silly it is, the breakdancing fight style seems incredibly weak. Might just stick with Hero for Ichiban and mix and match the other party members. 

 

I think this is the first JRPG I've played that has a Job system, so it's taking a while to get to grips with it. Like, is it worth ranking them all up equally or sticking with one till the end?

[Qazimod]

The breakdancing (or “Breaker” job) is what I’m using for Ichi.  I quite like the damage dealing for crowds and individuals, but the skills get pretty expensive... The move that gives MP back can be useful though, so I often alternate when necessary.  

[Kayin Amoh]

51 minutes ago, Gambit said:

Had a mess around with the different jobs.

 

Despite how delightfully silly it is, the breakdancing fight style seems incredibly weak. Might just stick with Hero for Ichiban and mix and match the other party members. 

 

I think this is the first JRPG I've played that has a Job system, so it's taking a while to get to grips with it. Like, is it worth ranking them all up equally or sticking with one till the end?

 

You can pretty much stick with one for any character, though leveling up multiples will increase your overall stats and give you some options to play around with as well as it just generally being fun to see what each one has to offer. 

[Gambit]

38 minutes ago, Qazimod said:

The breakdancing (or “Breaker” job) is what I’m using for Ichi.  I quite like the damage dealing for crowds and individuals, but the skills get pretty expensive... The move that gives MP back can be useful though, so I often alternate when necessary.  

 

Is it possible to change jobs without going to Hello Work all the time? 

[scissorkicks]

1 hour ago, Gambit said:

Despite how delightfully silly it is, the breakdancing fight style seems incredibly weak. Might just stick with Hero for Ichiban and mix and match the other party members.

 

The Windmill ability can end fights with similar or lower level enemies in the first turn.

I can recommend the "Night Mistress" job for Saeko when you unlock it. Lots of her techniques brainwash enemies so they start attacking each other.

[Gambit]

5 minutes ago, scissorkicks said:

 

The Windmill ability can end fights with similar or lower level enemies in the first turn.

I can recommend the "Night Mistress" job for Saeko when you unlock it. Lots of her techniques brainwash enemies so they start attacking each other.

 

Not unlocked that yet. I just tried the Idol job that I wasn't a fan of, so may go back to her waitress one (big fan of the champagne attack).

[Jamie John]

How does this compare with Zero? I finished Zero and enjoyed it, largely, but I didn't adore it as much as lots of others seem to, and it wasn't so great that I was inspired to go and immediately play other games in the series.