Current Events > Yakuza: Like a Dragon is amazing.

(+) Yeah! (+)

One of the best games ever.

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Exaggerate harder.

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My buddy Big Bobby says it's trash

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do these do anything different from the standard ones?

I bounced off those pretty hard...

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Turbam posted...

My buddy Big Bobby says it's trash

Buddy Big Bobby bites, by the by.

BuckVanHammer posted...

do these do anything different from the standard ones?

I bounced off those pretty hard...

Well I don't know which one you started with, but Y:LAD is straight up a turn-based JRPG in combat mechanics, whereas most RGG games are beat em ups.

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BuckVanHammer posted...

do these do anything different from the standard ones?

I bounced off those pretty hard...

It's a turn based rpg for one

BuckVanHammer posted...

do these do anything different from the standard ones?

I bounced off those pretty hard...

Party-based jrpg instead of an action game

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ah. might give that a shot then...

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BuckVanHammer posted...

do these do anything different from the standard ones?

I bounced off those pretty hard...

It's a turn based JRPG featuring a cast consisting of mostly age 40ish people that are homeless/have low end jobs. It's... A very different narrative, at least in the beginning from what I've played. Mostly about the MC trying to get his own life together and a lot of the struggles people society kinda ignored go through.

Mind it does have the usual Yakuza comedic tones to keep it light. It also has an excellent English dub cast.

It's good but that's as far as I'd go

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CyricZ posted...

Buddy Big Bobby bites, by the by.

@SSJ2GrimReaper

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The turn based combat is trash.

I enjoyed the story, but for turn based combat, there weren't enough big aoe attacks for quickly taking out the tons of weak enemies you're forced to fight. That was my only gripe really.

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I have three "buckets" I put all the RGG games in with regards to how good I personally think they are (this disregards the PS2 games).

There's "Good Enough", which have some noticeable flaws that I can't really ignore, but still are good enough games. Kiwami, 6, and Dead Souls go here.

There's "Great", which is where the flaws are more than overshadowed by their quality. Most of the rest of the games in the series go here if they don't go in the other two buckets.

And there's "Exceptional", which are pillars of the series, great entry points, and almost perfectly indicative of the quality of RGG. For the longest time, Yakuza 0 sat solo in this bucket until Y:LAD came along.

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It is a good game that I recommend for people who are interested in or already like Yakuza. It is not a game that I would recommend to someone looking for good turn based combat. Because as the above poster says, the turn based combat is trash.

I think the usual Yakuza brawler combat is also trash, and that the series is a mini-game showcase carried by story rather than any core gameplay, so the fact that they shifted into uninspired turn based gameplay didn't really effect my views on the game much at all. I will say LAD has the edge on encounters via incorporating a full team into the mix so personality traits of other characters than the MC can be shown off in combat more so than previous titles, but even then it isn't implemented particularly well since you aren't really pushed to do anything other than use said characters 2-3 best moves at all times in every encounter.

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Also want to say that a big downside that the turn-based combat has under the old brawler gameplay is a lot of encounters (story and side content) in LAD are damage spongey, not particular challenging or dangerous, but can take you 20+ minutes to complete. The game as a whole has poor balancing, enemy levels are displayed but are often times non-sensical, will easily trounce a group of enemies several levels higher, then get stone walled by a single enemy a couple levels below you later. I think I defeated a level 40 optional boss at one point when I was in the early 20's.

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https://youtu.be/FwwkXADfBjI

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I was hooked until 50 hours in at like chapter 12 where I just got mega burnt out. Seems like I need to grind and you gain XP so slowly that I lost all desire. It's very humorous though, and Ichiban is a superb protagonist. Basically a big effin' nerd.

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Cold-Blooded was my favorite jam from LAD, but didn't top my favorite Yakuza beat:

Heading for Kamuro Hills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_J-V6nzaRs

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CyricZ posted...

And there's "Exceptional", which are pillars of the series, great entry points, and almost perfectly indicative of the quality of RGG. For the longest time, Yakuza 0 sat solo in this bucket until Y:LAD came along.

I would add Judgement tol that bucket.

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PepsiWithCoke posted...

I would add Judgement tol that bucket.

Judgement would but the stupid mortal wound and hey the gangs are taking over the city go beat up their leaders every 10 minutes keep it from being in that bucket.

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PepsiWithCoke posted...

I would add Judgement tol that bucket.

I will say Judgment was this close to making it there for me. I had issues with the combat (which thankfully seem fixed in Lost Judgment), the SP grind, and the Drone Racing, which was unnecessarily unforgiving.

Judgment had a fantastic story, though. On story alone, I'd say it's the best in the series.

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I don't even wanna play a Yakuza game if it doesn't have LAD's battle system tbh

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God, I just remembered how much I hated that people still chased you in Judgment, but you'd get arrested if you didn't beat them/run away quickly enough. Do we know if they stopped that in Lost Judgment?

Kaldrenthebold posted...

I was hooked until 50 hours in at like chapter 12 where I just got mega burnt out. Seems like I need to grind and you gain XP so slowly that I lost all desire. It's very humorous though, and Ichiban is a superb protagonist. Basically a big effin' nerd.

Thats exactly where Im at and I got annihilated at the boss in that chapter. Like there was no way I could beat him at that level. Luckily there is a fighting arena in that area that isnt too bad and you gain tons of experience going through it. Still looking at a few hours of grinding though

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i literally did business management stuff as soon as it unlocked and grinded to #1 in the same chapter

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DyingPancake posted...

Still looking at a few hours of grinding though

Eh one trip through that was a little over an hour at worst and the payoffs not only in XP but in items and money make the visit entirely worth it regardless of needing it for the boss.

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