Topic: What (Non-PS4) game are you playing??

Back to Yakuza Kiwami 2. Pretty nice being able to juggle my playthrough between my rig and Steam Deck. That said, I do think the small hubs of these games tend to make them feel very... samey after awhile. I can't imagine doing most of the side-content in these games. I try to do the substories where possible, but even a lot of those feel sorta tedious.

Game runs well at medium settings at 45fps on my Deck, which is nice.

I think I'm gonna do what substories and other side content that is easy and accessible, but otherwise focus on main story progression. I have a lot of these games to get through, and I feel like most of them involve me flitting around Kamurocho, which is already getting old.

Also playing Unicorn Overlord on Switch, and it also feels kinda tedious. The gameplay is unique, for sure, and the progression is phenomenal, but I don't see this becoming an all-time favorite of mine. There's definitely a lot of strategy in unit builds and whatnot, but it very much lacks the tension and excitement of something like Fire Emblem for me. And the characters are all pretty forgettable so far.

@Ralizah They shake it up over the series, though 0 and 2 are nice with the long amount of time spent in Sotenbori (my fav), each one does spend time other places, but Kamuro is always the hub. But Kamuro changes so it feels the same but different often. I kind of like that about it, it might be samey but it feels like a real place you're really in because you spend so much time there over so many eras that you see it change like a real place. RIP Nakamichi Popo. You were so convenient.

I pretty much binged Kw2 through 6 all in a few months, did all the substories, and of COURSE the hostess clubs since major substory and even ability stuff is locked behind them. Kind of sad how few people do even the substories, to me that's the best part of the game with the best Kiryu rather than the dodgy poorly written main stories where Kiryu's always an idiot. Did you start with 0 or Kw1?

@NEStalgia I'm doing the substories where it makes sense. But I don't have any sort of completionist urge regarding them. And sweet jesus keep me far away from the hostess club stuff!

Generally they're pretty formulaic, I've noticed, and tend to end in the same place: with Kiryu beating up con artists and yakuza.

I actually started with 0 back in 2017, but only played half of it before BotW and Persona 5 consumed my time for months. Got back properly into the series a couple of years ago when I played Kiwami 1 via PS+. I'm hoping to make better progress through the series now, although the repetitive nature of these games might stop me.

It's an okay series, although once you get used to the randomness and weird sexual stuff, it loses a lot of its luster. I'm hoping this becomes more of an action spectacle soon, because Kiwami 2 is VERY slow so far.

The best part of this series so far was the Majima Everywhere thing in Kiwami. His Bugs Bunny-esque disguises and antics really kept that game feeling fresh.

@Ralizah I forget which games show you the substories and which ones require an upgrade/item to show you the substories, but to me, the substories are the reason to play the series. The main quest is usually somewhere between so-so and eyerolling nonsense. The "heart" of the series is the characters and that's all in the substories (please no Majima Construction though.)

LOL I spent MONTHS on the Y0 hostess game. But the thing is you have to do it because A) You need the cash. B) Half the best side sidestories are locked in it, C) Entire movesets are locked behind it. I flipped out when that game came back in Kw2. It's basically dumbed down Cooking Mama, but it's so time consuming. Then for a change of pace I finally played Fist of the North Star and WTF do I get? THE HOSTESS CLUB MINIGAME! FU!

FWIW, I'd rate Y0 as the best main story, and the best side quests in the series, so gauge the rest of the series based on how much you liked Y0. Y0 had a different writer that was much better than the main writer. 1 & 2 also have a different writer than the rest of the series so it can be jarring. Most of the rest is worse. Good, but worse. But also note that 1 and 2, being the oldest, also have the most boring, generic, and least interesting sidestories. Notice they're much less varied and story based than 0's.

OTOH Kw2 is considered one of the MOST "action spectacle" of the series, soooooo....... If you think Kw2 is slow you're in for a rough time with 3 which is, by far, the slowest in the first half. Also please look forward to 5 when Haruka is a playable character and gets and entire chapter....no, she's not caving in thug's heads, she's engaging in dance battles. Karaoke becomes the combat for an entire chapter. Please be excited. Tell me after you're done 5/6 because there's a whole freight train full of "WTF writers?" going on there to talk about

I loved the weirdness of Majima Everywhere, but they also don't know what they want to do with Majima. He's never that crazy again, he gets more serious (or just absent) as the series goes on. But I also HATED playing Majima Everywhere. It's just an increasing progression of identical damage sponge boss battles. It really wasn't fun, even if the theme was fun (the zombie motif was good fun.)

But the side stories definitely get better, closer to Y0 as the series goes on. 1&2 were very bland MMO side story fetch/kill x monster kinds of things.

@NEStalgia God knows how long it'll take me to get to 5/6. I'm toying with the idea of just playing Like A Dragon next. How essential are the references from games 3 - 6 to appreciating it? I'll play em eventually, but I'm a lot more excited to play the modern, turn-based entries.

Oh, I very much can avoid the hostess club in Y0. I don't care how much side-content it gates me out of. I don't boot up my PS4 to play mobile resource-management sims. And why would you need money anyway? I literally buy nothing in these games, because enemies are carrying loads of potions and weapons on them at all times.

Yeah, there's like a fun Batman/Joker dynamic in Kiwami with Majima and Kiryu, but now he's just sort of awkwardly hanging around in the background of the story like some ex-boyfriend you never fully moved on from.

@Ralizah The old games are worth it if You're invested in the world and characters. I enjoy the world but I reiterate the side quests are the good parts where your learn to appreciate the characters (more in later games) the main stories are generally terribly written.

Technically you don't need the old games for the new lad games, it's a fresh start with ichi, but old characters make some appearances including kiryu that are important to the story (and also discards the ending of 6............) but infinite wealth seems like it really benefits considering half the game you play terminally ill kiryu revisiting the places of his life which you presumably have experienced with him. "Critical", no, but the impact is different. Even adult haruka is there Even though I want to throw her from the millennium Tower after 5/6 . Dumb writing there.

Look well 0 you need money because money is exp in 0 and you need a LOT of it. It almost requires completing the hostess and real estate games.

Lol funny you'd say Joker for majima because the lone English dub on PS2 of Yakuza 1 featured Mark Hamill ad majimas VA! I love Hamill but it was horrible 😂

3 is the slowest of the games by far. It has its charm, is love or hate. Also horrible combat. It's the oldest of the remasters.

4 shakes things up with 4 protags. 5 also has 4 but one is harkas dance chapter. 6 is....ugh.

I adore the series. Mostly for side quests after 2. But some of that writing....

@Ralizah Also a PSA since it sounds like you didn't complete 0 yet but are mid Kw2, the second mini-campaign in Kiwami2, the Majima campaign, that you start on the main menu is a direct sequel/conclusion/closure to Majima's story in 0. Do not play it until you have finished 0.

Also (even though you're not playing it) the Hostess club game in Kiwami 2 is a direct sequel (for Yuki and the Sunshine arc) that won't have any meaning without 0's hostess club game.

@NEStalgia Geez.

Appreciate the heads up. I was gonna play it after finishing up the campaign, but yeah, I didn't beat Y0, so I'll go ahead and skip it for now.

So, based on what I've heard from you, I could complete the series in this order with little issue in terms of references and understanding plot points, right?

Kiwami 2 (current) --> 0 --> Majima Saga --> Like A Dragon --> 3 --> 4 --> 5 --> 6 --> Infinite Wealth --> [Insert latest game that'll be out at this point]

And do I need to worry about where in the series I play the Judgment spinoff duology?

@Ralizah Glad I mentioned it! Yeah, I think that order will be fine, the only "out of sequence" thing was that Majima Saga bit that was thrown into the Kiwami 2 remake as sort of fanservice to give closure to loose threads in Majima's story in 0, so it's really a stand-alone "epilogue" for 0 that shipped with Kw2.

3, 4, 5, 6 are a bit more coherent as sequels and narrative connections, while it's only 5 into 6 really run directly into each other as true continuous sequels where 5 ends on an obvious cliffhanger for its sequel that opens right into the same scene. (though...I have my opinions on that whole sequence.... )

LaD after 2 is fine. It'll be a weird kind of tone shift in that order because 3's opening scene starts in 2's closing scene but there's not an important story link other than the overarching living of Kiryu's life. And while Kiryu plays a role at the end of the story in LaD, it's not like it spoils anything other than throwing away narrative results from 6 because mascot. (I.E. Kiryu hanging out in the open in LaD is narrative inconsistent with him basically going underground at the end of 6, and then they made Man Who Erased His Name to retcon the plothole.) I'm certain by 2038 we'll be playing centenarian Kiryu ripping through thugs with his walker. Actually with RGG, that's actually likely, lol.

Nah, Judgement is a complete spinoff series. It does have cameos from main series characters, but they're just that, cameos, and it doesn't connect with their own stories, they just happen to exist in the same time and place because it's not like Kamuro's that big...

Zet Zillions dropped on PC. Picked it up to play on steamdeck. I am rubbish at these sorts of games for some reason, but still having a good time anyway. There is enough story packed between the battles to make it feel like you're still experiencing new things even with constant failure. The range of enemies and the strength of the visuals help as well. I won't say every run has felt unique but after a good dozen failures each run has been different enough.

In the same vein I picked up Inkbound and Monster Train. I am pretty sure I finished Monster Train years ago on Gamepass, I didn't realise I didn't own it on Steam so picked it up on sale and will chip away at this on Deck. In terms of Inkbound, I heard really positive things about this, but I have to be honest I am not really loving it. Kinda feels like a turn based Hades for a lack of a more eloquent descriptor and I thought it'd be for me but it really isn't.

The Getaway finally has RetroAchievements, time to see what the fuss is about. There really aren’t enough games set in the UK, weirdly enough.

This game is insane. Zero HUD. Navigate what looks like London if it’s been scanned with rudimentary satellite images, complete with Pret A Manger, Boots and so on. Use your indicators to find where the f**k the objective is, meaning if you bust your taillights you’re flying blind. To recover health you stand near a wall to make yourself heavy breathe a bit, WHICH IS NOT MENTIONED AT ALL. Truly wild design decisions… yet it’s kinda impressive for the time? Actually enjoying the jank as the vibe is excellent and the shooting is an interesting change from the usual third person controls of the early PS2 era. The voice acting is brilliant too, it’s like The Bill meets Snatch. Will never tire of the guy calling dead enemies f**king muppets.

Also… this was written by Bertie of Bert and Bertie? As in, directed a block of Hawkeye on Disney+? She’s done quite a lot of good stuff too. And, the craziest twist yet, the series has a spin off called Gangs of London on PSP. Turns out the TV show Gangs of London on Sky is an adaptation of it? So there’s a big high budget Sky show based on a PSP spin-off of a semi-obscure PS2 first-party game? Screw The Last of Us, this is the real Sony TV project.

I am around the 30ish hour mark into Unicorn Overlord now and it honestly might be my game of the year so far.

I deffo think if you were to have one criticism with the game, it has a real tutorialisation problem which can make it feel like you're running into difficulty walls fairly regularly. They often aren't that hard to overcome, but I do worry about whether that might put people off and I do wish they had done a better job of cleaning this aspect up.

And while that might be a deal breaker for me in other games, every other aspect of this is just so damn good. And addictive. So addictive.

It is funny because there was recently that divisive article on NL of this alternate future for the Fire Emblem series and while its not the vision that author envisioned, I feel like Unicorn Overlord solves a lot of Fire Emblems lingering problems for them and sorta feels like the actual future for what a Fire Emblem should be. Sure, it may be no Three Houses narratively, but as an actual game, I think it is significantly better built. Arguably that was true of Engage too, but I think Unicorn Overlord goes a leap or three even further on the gameplay frontier.

If the next FE - assuming it isn't already deep in its development cycle - doesn't take a long look at how Unicorn Overlord does things, I think it would be a mistake.

Might have to bin The Getaway. Persevered through 12 chapters of absolute hell only to get to the single worst chapter of any game of all time. The controls…. the f**king controls. Dreadful. There’s a lot going for the game but it’s practically unplayable most of the time. A remake with y’know, controls that worked, would be great.

@nessisonett For the time, it was pretty mind-blowing stuff for a whole host of reasons. I have fond memories, but it's best consigned to history. However, I'd be totally on board with a spiritual successor.

@Malaise The lack of a HUD would be really cool if it was executed with any sort of competence.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is kinda disappointing. The original was this tight, suspenseful drama with a hilarious rivalry between you and Majima throughout that escalated in absurdity.

Kiwami 2 just feels like it's spinning its wheels for the entire game. Combat was dumbed down. I literally spent an entire chapter just trying to fend off some sketchy manager guy who was weirdly insistent on turning Haruka into an idol against her will. And this is after I fought off a bunch of tigers in a magical Japanese castle that rose from the ground like a LoZ dungeon. I know Yakuza is absurd, but that absurdity is usually grounded in reality. This was all just pretty stupid.