Topic: Yakuza 0

@Quintumply cheers bro, will begrudgingly pass the introduction section.

WHY IS THIS NOT IN THE GOLDEN WEEK SALE?!?!?!??!!

Guess I'll have to get Nier: Automata instead

@Kogorn733 ohhhh tough choice. I can only vouch for Yakuza Zero and its brilliant. I'm 45+ hours in and am loving it if you haven't guessed from my above comments. It starts a bit slow and your character is a tad under powered, but opens up into an elaborate character filled story with some of the best mini games, which could be smaller releases on the PSN. Shogi, Mahjong, pool, darts (my favourite so far), scalextric, phone dating, night club running, Outrun, super hang on, space harrier, claw prize machines, karaoke, disco dancing, poker, blackjack, roulette, fishing, breakfighting, fantasy zone, eating and drinking.

I just wish I had more time to play. Roll on October when my job quietens down. I may finish it then!

So my amazon order which I placed over a month ago for Yakuza 0 has been 'unexpectedly delayed'.
New estimated arrival date:
December 20 2017 - December 22 2017

There are genuinely no copies of this game available anywhere.
Sort yourself out Sega!
Digital it is.

Finally bought the most expensive building in the game. That optional property management sidequest has lasted weeks! Almost finished now I think and then onwards with the story.

Finally finished the story off! Woo hoo. What an ending. If anyone is still to reach the end make sure you have at least 2 hours before you take on the final mission as it's a beast with no save points and you need to stock up on tonics!

In retrospect just like FF15, the games many faults especially the bloat and occasional grim last gen texture would make it an 8/10, but it's story and characters are up there with the best TV shows and films.

@themcnoisy Really glad you enjoyed it. I wasn't really prepared for how long the final mission would be and had to stop half way through to go to bed! Excellent game, though

@Quintumply My Goty so far, I wish some of the RNG elements were removed especially end game trophy hunting (phone dating / model car parts / weapon crafting parts) as it's stopped me wanting to platinum the game. But it's a brilliant experience. I may finish with the colessium trophy and bow out.

@themcnoisy

Took your advice and got the game and I like it so far. The fact that there's no English VA stopped bothering me after about 30 minutes or so.

Only thing I don't like is that there isn't as much room to explore as it first looks like there is, but the fact that there's so much to DO kinda gets around that.

@Kogorn733 how far are you in? There's a few different locations in the game.

@Th3solution I swore you mentioned me somewhere here in this topic!

(Also sorry for not getting back to your question yet, with English not being my native language and all I sometimes have a hard time wording impressions. Also, I got a bit caught up on life.)

@Kidfried It was inside a different thread.

Notification is saying "Th3solution mentioned you in "Yakuza 0", and I can't find the comment anywhere else.

@Kidfried @KratosMD Ive just checked @th3solution post history and he has gone silent since Thursday and the post was deleted or removed. I seen it too. Hope your okay bro!

Started playing Yakuza 0. I'm on Chapter 2 now. It's... fun. It's like a weird cross between GTA and a JRPG.

Kiryu is a delicious piece of beefcake. The whole game is full of these ridiculously macho yakuza guys being overdramatic about everything, so the story scenes are a lot of fun to watch.

The battle system is simplistic but good fun, and the visceral blows combined with truly brutal attack animations when you interact with objects in your environment keep the constant fights with thugs around Kamurocho from feeling irritating.

Where do you sell objects? I got these gold and silver plates from a clown, and it says they fetch a good price, but I haven't seen a "sell" option in any of the marts.

@Ralizah The pawn shop. Its in the south middle of the map.

So, here's my impressions so far. I'm at chapter 5 and did as many sidemissions as I could find. So, that's where I'm at right now.

I think the game is pretty good. And I think Ralizah sums up it very well, naming it a crossover between GTA and a JRPG.

Technically it's pretty underwhelming and often the game can feel like it could've been released ten years ago as well. The game has some style to make up for it, but nowhere near the style of games like Persona or anything. From minute to minute the gameplay can be a bit simplistic. But there's just so much going on that you won't ever feel bored.

I like the writing a lot. It's over the top, but so is everything in the game. And whether you will enjoy the game or not probably fully depends on you being able to appreciate this over-the-top world. I, for one, got completely sucked in. Playing this game to me feels like I'm really roaming these Japanese streets, going from place to place. You don't want to rush through it.

This game is a great waste of time, that never feels like it's wasting your time. I've been playing Outrun in an arcade for the last hour. I didn't earn any money or made any progress, but it was fun. Just like going to a bar can be fun; buying the different drinks, while the barman tells you about the flavor. Or doing a side mission for some old man you meet on the street. You'll have a very unique experience if you just allow the game to really immerse you into these great and lively neighborhoods.

@Th3solution Forgot to mention you!

Another thing I like so far is the dry humor. The people in these games take themselves VERY seriously, but it's pretty clear the game itself is often smiling at them. This is particularly the case during some of these side-quests I've done.

I think Yakuza does a pretty good job with its presentation. Big story moments are rendered in cutscenes with almost photorealistic visual quality, but the game dials back from that in normal gameplay, and smaller dialogues aren't even animated. In general, the game still looks good, though, and they don't spend a bajillion dollars making every single moment of the game look real.

The only thing I was really disappointed by was the omnipresent pop-in, but it's not a big deal. At least it's not like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where you'll warp to a location and literally watch the environment slowly load the textures around you.

I wish the Western market would release more of these AA games. With a few exceptions (such as Hellblade), everything seems to be either tiny indie projects or budget-busting AAA blockbusters. Yet the best games in previous generations have often been somewhere in-between: low-budget enough to take big risks, but still able to take advantage of the tech advances of that console generation.

Imagine if the only movies to choose from in theaters were billion-dollar Marvel epics or obscure independent films!

@themcnoisy Thanks!

Only happens in Japanese games: upon trying to save at a phone booth (I needed to stop playing), a new sidestory starts. I was really like "Ugh, I don't have time for this convince" but at the same time really appreciated the mission popping up so unexpected.

This may sound like an irrelevant detail, but it's just one of the many ways in which the game is able to surprise. Love that about it!

Also: Outrun is amaaaaazing. And, I find Shogi way too difficult. @themcnoisy were you any good at it?