@Thrillho It's mostly the number of betrayals that take it to silliness levels to me. Though THAT twist was kinda a stinker too. All said, Yakuza 4 was still good, I'd be lying if I said I hated it.
I forgot about the dojo sidequest, honestly.
"We don't get to choose how we start in this life. Real 'greatness' is what you do with the hand you're dealt." -Victor Sullivan "Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing." -Solid Snake
Late Shift. One of the older Wales Interactive games about a young car park security guard who inadvertently gets caught up in a gang performing a robbery. Brief run time of around an hour with maybe 50 branching choice moments featuring multiple endings. Good game and while I may play through a couple more times I'm not going for platinum.
I recall playing this game, thought it was great! For an FMV game that it. I played it several times to get all the endings.
I’m playing Erica right now which is similar.
The PSVR is the best VR system on the market today.
As we're talking about FMV games, I completed The Bunker last week. It's another one of the older Wales Interactive games. This is more of a point-and-click style game, and doesn't have the choices and dialogue options that some other FMV games have.
I thought it was alright. The gameplay elements are fairly basic, and the story is decent enough.
That was very enjoyable. I actually blitzed through 4 chapters yesterday in like 2 hours and was gonna leave it there... But I ended up just deciding to go for the finish line and wrap the main story up (clocking in about 75 hours).
The soundtrack for this was phenomenal to me. There was fantastic tracks all throughout from all different kinds of genres but the finale was just littered with track after track that was just heaven on the ears.
My favourite in the finale being Oath of Enma. That final fifth fight against Kuze with him having lost everything with only his pride remaining with that more sombre and melancholy track in the background? Not to mention the reprisal of Pledge Of Demon a minute in? So so good.
Firelight (The music that plays during Kiryu's segment of the finale) was also a really good techno(?) track. Very loosely reminded me a bit of Shoji Meguro's work on smt 3 nocturne at points.
I really appreciated how the story came together and how personal it became. I'd already figured ages before it was revealed that the two plotlines were gonna cross with Makoto being the owner of the empty lot... But I never would've guessed that whole bit with Tachibana being her older brother!
I hadn't quite become invested the Kiryu side of things as the big lug was just trying to clear his name most of his chapters or protect Nishkiyama and co but it got there in the end (Chapter 14 for obvious reasons really pulled me in). I still prefered Majima and his side of the plot more all things considered though.
I will say the final fight ... Didn't quite work for me. It was a great fight mechanically and two dragons was another belter of a track... But I dunno.
Shibusawa didn't really come off as a interesting villain to me. He was just kinda there and the whole thing felt a bit forced as he doesn't really do anything til the last few chapters (Which was obviously the point of his plan... but... Eh.) All the other fights felt much more important to me and intimidating then him (Lao Gui's fight and his soundtrack was menacing for example!) which may've been the point? But I dunno... still didn't care all that much grinding his face under Kiryu's boot. You were a lowly snake not a dragon Shibusawa.
The ending cutscenes were really good too. Was a bit long like ya said @ralphdibny but it was enjoyable none the less and I really did like how it wrapped things up, including the where are they now segment in the credits!
I came nowhere near to beating all the sidestories or anything (Lol sorry @Thrillho!) but I'll be sure to revisit it at some point in the future to mop up all that I can (I ain't a madwoman I'm never gonna 100% it!).
But yeah I can quite happily say I'm looking forward to playing more of this series! Yakuza 0 really is a good gateway into the series and I really enjoyed the ride.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I've heard zero is particularly good and glad you seem to have enjoyed it so much.
I've decided that when I eventually get around to starting them I'm gonna go YK, YK2, Y3, Y4, Y5, Y0 & Y6. That way I have zero and 6 (2 of the more 'popular' ones) to look forward too. Also, random but apt point... I'm a firm believer that Star Wars virgins should start at Ep4 so that THE reveal (maybe the greatest reveal in cinema ever) in Ep5 carries the power the moment deserves. If you start with the prequel trilogy, you rob yourself of that. Because of that, I always tend to do (play or watch) series in release rather than chronological order (which is slightly out of kilter in Yakuza due to the Kiwame remakes but im sure you get my drift).
I had a couple times where I started HZD and put it down, where recently I just finished the base game and Frozen Wilds on PS5. After finishing it I can understand why so many people rave about it to this day, and while it didn't crack my top 10 favorites I can confidently say I adore this game.
I'm not sure if I'm the only one with this impression but HZD really reminded me of my first time playing Skyrim, specifically with the exploration/discovering new enemies and dialogue with NPCs. Personally I think HZD has some of the best combat in the open world genre and perfected the Ubisoft formula, until Ghosts came out.
Improvements I'd like to see, Traversal: With a game where there's so much verticality I was disappointed to see how little options there were to optimize Traversal. There needs to be more ways to climb up and ways to get down, period. What do you guys think is Aloy's ropecaster could make ziplines? Grappling hooks are overused in games and are always welcome, but in recent games Pathfinder is the only one I can think of who makes ziplines. I think Aloy creating ziplines makes sense in her world and doesn't break the game.
Storytelling/World building: Please for the love of God don't depend on having 200 text datapoints, because in my 50 hours of play I didn't care to read even one, although I did listen to the voice recordings and dialogue with NPCs was always A1.
Combat: With a game where you have to strategize enemy weaknesses, please make it an ability to swap weapons from the weapon wheel like RDR2 so I don't have to pause mid combat to switch to a different bow.
I'm sure I'm overlooking other flaws but these were the ones that stuck out to me, what do you think fellow gamers?
So got to the end of Kentucky Route Zero earlier. Not sure it's something I could say I'd played as its not really like playing, not even sure it qualifies as a game - more like some experimental interactive fiction. Also unsure if I enjoyed it or not! It definitely left me with... something though. A very sombre, thoughtful, philosophising journey. I did get quite hooked around half way just to see where it was going and will definitely be back over next day or so to pick up remaining trophies.
It's not something I could recommend but I think I'm glad I saw it through.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Sacrilege again with the unfinished sub stories! I’m glad you made it to the end though as it is a pretty meaty game.
Kiryu’s personality does take some getting used to but I do like his understated way of doing things and his sense of honour over Majima’s batshit craziness. It’s worth remembering it was the first time people finally got to play as Majima as well so I’m not surprised that got padded out more.
@colonelkilgore I would massively recommend starting with Zero. It does have lots of nods to the other games, more so if you’ve played those first, but it makes more sense playing them in time order. Kiwami also has little tweaks to link to the game too.
@Sorteddan It’s cool to see someone else has traversed the Zero (this post may be getting confusing talking about two different types of Zero!). I loved the game but got a bit burnt out with the fourth chapter. I’m looking forward to another run at some point to try things a bit differently and mop up those last trophies.
@Thrillho well my decision isn’t final, so I will definitely consider your suggestion... and appreciate it too. I’m hoping to start one during some annual leave either this year or the next.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy well done on beating Yakuza. Glad you shared your thoughts, very interesting to read. I have to agree about the final Kuze music, it was seriously awesome! I wish I knew what all the songs were called and had some frame of reference for your other comments, I guess I'll probably find out what they are called when I get around to downloading the album!
@colonelkilgore I tend to do release order if I'm playing a full series for the first time. I would have played Yakuza 0 after 5 but someone mentioned it might be leaving game pass soon so I thought I'd play it first. Even if it doesn't leave game pass, I didn't want to get stuck with a 100+ hour game to play in the 2 weeks they give you after they announce what's leaving.
If there's a series that has the luxury of being one I will play multiple times (MGS) then I might mix up the orders on subsequent playthroughs. For example I had a truncated run through of the Big Boss games prior to The Phantom Pain coming out (Snake eater, Portable Ops, Peace Walker, Ground Zeros). When I did the full playthrough of all the games last year and the year before, I found myself coming full circle chronologically (as the games do) - my partner was begging me not to start them again from the beginning once we had got to the end 😅. I started with the Twin Snakes remake on that one as I'd never played it before and after 5 and Survive we played all the 2D games (again for the first time) and finished up with the original MGS on PlayStation lol. I was so very tempted to start playing Sons of Liberty again after that
@Thrillho
Now normally I will complete a game, go back to pick up any easily available trophies then maybe go for the plat depending on how easily achievable it is or how much I enjoyed it. Then it gets deleted off hard drive storage and I move on to the next thing. With KRZ I think I'm gonna leave it around and probably go back through the whole thing in a few months, weird considering I still couldn't say I actually enjoyed it!
@colonelkilgore
Yeah I'm not surprised. After reading your thoughts on gameplay vs narrative recently then it definitely wouldn't be one for you. Like I said above, I don't really think it's even a game!
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
@Sorteddan that's exactly it mate, I was hoping the 'weird' angle would win me over as I love me some weird TV and Film but sadly it didn't. Still, I'm happy for everyone who did get a lot out if it.
Well thanks @Th3solution, you totally should! Helps I was off work of course to be able to devour a meaty game like Yakuza 0 in just over a month... I'm not very proud of that lol 😅
Ha ha I get ya @colonelkilgore. There's like one call forward with one character from one of the sequels (That I noticed but it didn't reveal anything about that game other then it being a cute cameo) as I said the end credits of 0 does contain a little where are they now sorta snippet that alludes to the events of Yakuza/Kiwami 1 but otherwise I don't think there was anything at all that could spoil anything?
You do you Mr Gameplay king! Whatever you decide on playing first I'm sure you'll have a blast with the combat system as it is good fun... Though I'd definitely be intrigued to hear on what you make of all the other gameplay systems and mechanics.
I entirely bypassed stuff like the gambling den with poker, blackjack, roulette, mahjong, and like five other gambling minigames. I didn't even touch the fighting tournament and I did leave a fair few of the minigames unfinished... There's a lot to do whenever I decide to go back!
Sacrilege again with the unfinished sub stories! I’m glad you made it to the end though as it is a pretty meaty game.
Kiryu’s personality does take some getting used to but I do like his understated way of doing things and his sense of honour over Majima’s batshit craziness. It’s worth remembering it was the first time people finally got to play as Majima as well so I’m not surprised that got padded out more.
Ha ha I'm sorry @Thrillho! I was close enough with only ten missing from Kiriyu and I think eight for Majima (And I didn't even know until giving the premium adventure a very brief look that Majima had the postcard sidequest too so it could've easily been shaved down to five!)
Yeah don't get me wrong I defintely like the big lug in a disco suit! The side stories make him come off a big goof at times that did endear me to him and I do like Kiryu for sure with his sense of morals and justice.
Majima's arc just happened to resonate with me more and like you said it was his first time being playable so I get why they might've gave him the bigger sense of focus & development here into what he becomes. It is going to be a bit jarring for me no doubt seeing Majima become more like Nishitani in all the following games when he's, relatively, the straight man in 0!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
🤔 so do I go with Mr Gameplay King or Mr Legendary Perseverance? Who am I kidding, why not both... I shall herewith go by the moniker Mr Legendary King! 🤗
I've replied to you in a seperate post @ralphdibny just so I don't accidently spoil anyone else.
Chapter 14 was where Tachibana was tortured and eventually died and that whole sequence really got to me, especially the part with Makoto interacting with his dead body and telling him was tired and just needed to rest... Ugh I got misty eyed to say the least! Utterly heart breaking
I was really quite pleased and pleasantly surprised with all the performances in Yakuza 0. I'm really fond of having english dubs myself as most, if not all, of the japanese media I've really seen to this point is anime based and typically someone in those casts tends to really exaggerate or something and take it over the top... which just happens to be my nails on chalkboard.
But for Yakuza 0... I really enjoyed and appreciated the voice acting in this. Really well done in my opinion and I think has definitely paved the way for me to not be so... biased and more tolerant I guess in trying some more subbed stuff!
As for the music... I found a guy on youtube who uploaded the entire 》soundtrack 《 (at least I think it's all of it in that link) for Yakuza 0 so that's where I've mostly learned the names of the tracks by just sifting through them and looking at the comments... Especially as they've put some of the titles in Japanese.
For ones that I've specifically referenced:
Track 38 is Pledge of Demon Kuze's first four boss tracks
Track 39 is Oath of Enma Kuze's final boss battle theme
Track 40 is Firelight (the track that plays during Kiryu's side of the finale as you fight through the boat
Track 42: Archnemesis is the track against Lao Gui, the Chinese assassin
Hope that helps my previous post become somewhat clearer ralph!
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy thanks for the clarifications! That bit you mentioned was intense for so many reasons. I don't know why but I just loved Kuze. Every scene he is in shows a change of mind, heart or general viewpoint and that one was no different. Shame it went the way it did. I loved Kiryu's pained howls as he held Tachibana's body up. If I'm remembering it correctly that is, it's been a couple weeks and I've finished like 5 shorter games since then so my memory is already getting hazy 😅
I think at first, I was skipping the VO when you could read the text and press A (or X on PlayStation I guess). Obviously I watched all the proper cut scenes though. As I became more invested in the characters later on in the game, I would listen to more of the VO for certain characters like Sagawa, Awano and Kuze just because I liked hearing their voices. The game made me kind of want to learn some Japanese even though it seems like a really tough language to learn.
I think generally I prefer dubbed for TV cartoons. I love the dubbed DBZ and full metal alchemist shows. I think generally I prefer dubbed for live action and animated films. Admittedly I don't watch as many foreign films as I used to. Normally advocates for subs will have good reasons for preferring that version that they will post online. I'd say for me, it normally comes down to how much of the dialogue is changed in translation as to whether I'd watched subbed over dubbed.
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