Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@colonelkilgore It would make sense if you were playing the original Yakuza. Kiwami relies on knowledge from 0 though. It’s a sequel to 0.

@nessisonett

@Keith_Zissou judging from the reaction my suggestion has provoked, I’d hazard a guess that the order of the Yakuza games at least should probably be started with Zero… but now I’m just fascinated by the reading I’ll get from playing it later.

From what I gather you could definitely play Judgement as there’s no connection narratively… just the same location and some game mechanics.

Although it sounds like you’ll probably just go with Judgement, I’ll tag you with how I get on.

Playing Hollow Knight for the fourth time but first time on ps (the 3 before were on switch) and it still amazes me how fun and addictive it is. The trophies are a nice incentive to maybe think about the 112%.

@dudeAmarillo It's a great game, hope you enjoy your latest play through. I think I got 56% of the trophies up to finishing the game so a long way to go for total completion. I always meant to go back but haven't managed it yet.

Started Yakuza Kiwami today (got a bit fed up with the score attack chase on Rise of the Tomb Raider and fancied a break)… and after a period of acclimatisation, I’m really enjoying it. It does ‘feel’ old, even though it is a remaster in a new engine… there is just a PS2-‘vibe’ to it… the way it saves… the structure… it’s not a problem though, it’s ‘nice’,

My first playthrough is on the Standard difficulty and while I was getting to grips with it, it was a genuine struggle. I seem to have ‘sync’d’ with it a bit now though and finding the beat ‘em up action really quite enjoyable. Though, I imagine the Legend difficulty playthrough will be real tough. The story is great too, loving the characters and themes… and the voice acting on the main characters is top-notch.

Only god knows how much I’d be enjoying it if I had played Yakuza Zero first 😉!

@colonelkilgore But Colonel, has nobody told you that you should be playing Yakuza 0 first and not Kiwami?

Glad to see that you're enjoying the game! Only tip I can give you is to save often because there's literally no auto-save whatsoever and it sucks losing progress in this game.

Y0 was my first experience with the series, but I never finished it. Yakuza Kiwami I did finish, however, and, honestly, while it's not as good, I feel like it's probably a better introductory game, if only because it's not so intimidatingly long.

@colonelkilgore Going from the Kiwami games to Y3 is really rough as that feels even older.

I hope you enjoy the madness and good luck learning how to play mahjong!

@Thrillho Mahjong alone is a platinum killer. I got pretty good at Shogi though!

@Kidfried I’ve played 5 Yakuza games and I still have absolutely no idea how to play Mahjong. I know you have to make a hand but I just plopped tiles down until I lost. I think I got really lucky once and ended up with some sort of equivalent of a Royal Flush because Kiryu did a little animation and I won the hand… but that’s about it.

@render game is fantastic, i have reached 78% in past runs nothing near the 112% but maybe this time i will try.

@LtSarge I know right… after posting on here for over a year, could no one take 5 minutes out of their day to warn me!?!. 🤣

@Thrillho the madness is a big part of the fun from the little I’ve experienced so far. Also, I remember reading an article on mahjong around a year ago… seemed quite difficult to get your head around (on paper at least). Yeah, it’ll be intriguing to try and git-gud at that fair play.

@Kidfried yeah, there is a nice balance between characters tbh… some great typical organised crime types and then just plain crazy types. The Funeral has been the stand out so far, thought that was great… but just about to hop in a taxi to somewhere(?) so who knows where that is leading but I’m sure it’ll be fun.

I played Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise a few years ago (& never got anywhere near the Platinum on that) and it’s very similar… think that Yakuza is better though.

@colonelkilgore There are lots of different roadblocks to getting the platinum in different games but the bouncer missions in Y3 (I think) must be up there. Good luck with all the arcade games and the UFO catchers too!

@nessisonett I think one of the games gave you a super tile as a reward from one mission that instantly won you a match. Then there's also that game where you seem to have to match up cards with pictures of flowers and mountains on them. What a nightmare for the non-natives among us

@Thrillho yeah, it's (well all Yakuza games are tbh) a very tough plat. I'll try for it though... and have a feeling that if I somehow pull it off, it'll be right up there with the toughest, if not the toughest of all of 'em.

@colonelkilgore Don’t worry, even I got the plat for Y6 so good luck with with the other five games!

I’ve had a few sessions on Yakuza Kiwami now and feel that I’ve now got a decent understanding of what the game is (if not all of the series). There’s obviously quite a few hardcore’s around (as I found out earlier this week 😅) but just in case there is anyone out there feeling like I was prior to starting it, I thought maybe an ‘outsiders’ perspective on the game maybe useful for gamers mulling over whether or not to give the series a go (basically… you should 😉).

So I already have a ‘feeling’ that my perspective may ruffle a few feathers, as this series (as do all great series) seems to engender something more than loyalty from its fans… but what the hell right? Long story short, my elevator pitch if you will… Yakuza (to me anyway) is ‘next-gen’ Streets of Rage crossed with Shenmue. Now it’s a ‘little’ more nuanced than that… but isn’t everything (more nuanced than it’s initial pitch)? By this I mean that, the narrative and open-world (for world, see ‘section of a city’) seems like a gritty, organised crime version of Shenmue, while the combat is something similar, if more technical (as it should be all these generations later and on a true 3D plane) to where I would’ve imagined Streets of Rage could’ve gone if the series had made the transition.

As for the game’s quality… it’s good, I’m really enjoying it. There’s a lot to do… and in essence it’s extremely repetitive but for some reason, it holds the interest for ‘just one more fight’. It’s tough too, I’m playing it on Normal (& will try the unlockable Legend difficulty, as I’d like to get the Plat if possible) but some of those fights (I’m looking at you later Majima fights) are not easy to overcome. I’m kinda thinking I’m ‘missing’ something in regards to the combat as it just ‘feels’ like it shouldn’t be this tough… but I’m not sure.

Trophy hunters beware… the dev’s expect A LOT for the Platinum. Even without the Legendary playthrough, 100%-ing the game is insane. There are so many different activities… and all of them need you to reach a respectable level of proficiency. I’m hovering around 48% completion atm, having put in around 25 hours… and there are many (MANY) things I haven’t even tried yet (let alone got-gud at). If I manage it, I have a feeling it’ll be top 3 trickiest plats (at least)… it’s gonna eat up my playtime too. PSN Trophies state that the Platinum takes around 80 hours, PlayStation Trophies say 120 hours… I think it could take even longer. I’m loving it so far though… and while I have no idea about all these Japanese gambling games (there are like 7 or 8 different Japanese specific Gambling games… as well as stuff like Poker and Pontoon etc), I enjoy a challenge, so for the time being at least, I’m quite excited to get stuck in to them once I’ve finished off the story.

@colonelkilgore Roughly 100 hours to get the Platinum and that's only the first game! Multiply that with eight games and you're looking at spending 1000 hours of your life playing Yakuza. I've heard Yakuza 5 is the most tedious one to get the Platinum and that it takes over 150 hours to do it. So if you think the series is already getting repetitive after 25 hours, then I can't imagine how you will feel after 1000 hours because the games are more or less the same until you get to Like a Dragon.

@LtSarge well I was expecting 100 hours+, so I’m not really surprised… it’s more the random activities (& amount thereof) that you need to master to get that 100% Complete trophy. I’ve got plenty of Plats which took over 100 hours, so it’s not something that is new to me… just the way the game requires so many different things that are totally alien to the core gameplay.

Also, if you know anything about me yet… I won’t be going Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza Kiwami 2 etc on the head. I’ll play this one, then maybe play the sequel towards the end of the year. By the time I’ve finished the core series and moved onto Judgment and Like a Dragon etc. it’ll be 2026 and I would have played roughly 30 different games between each instalment.

… and although I’m finding it somewhat repetitive, there is something that keeps you playing. I’d be very surprised if even the biggest Yakuza fan wouldn’t admit that the gameplay is pretty repetitive (actually… given this last week, maybe I wouldn’t 🤣). That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing though… and as I’ve alluded too, there are a multitude of other activities you can do if the combat gets boring. Personally though, I’ve just concentrated on plowing through the main and side missions, so hardly touched the mini-games and activities.

@Kidfried that’s cool… I thought I was about to get crucified for my noob-minded comparison. The fact that both games mentioned were actually inspiration, just confirms to me that I’m ‘getting’ it.