Current Events > I think I'm done with the Yakuza series

(+) Yeah! (+)

I started with Yakuza 0 a few years ago and it really felt like a breath of fresh air. The humor, story, and charm really made it into the best game I had played in years and one of my favorites of all time.

After that I played Kiwami and it is just worse than 0 in every way. They made the combat and boss fights much more annoying and tedious, and the story just isn't good. Overall I did not enjoy this game.

Kiwami 2 was a lot better than 1. The story/writing improved but it's not really close 0's level. The new engine was refreshing although the combat didn't feel as tight as 0s, but again more enjoyable than K1. Overall I liked this one but it was now clear to me how repetitive this series is.

I bought Judgment a few days ago and was pretty excited because I've heard some people say it's as good as 0. I'm only on Chapter 3 but man I'm not really feeling it.The main story is pretty good so far, but I think these games are just way too repetitive for me. Like I'm running around doing fetch quests in the same city that I've ran around in for 3 other games. And man, the trailing missions are just anti-fun. I think I'm just going to beeline the main story in this one and call it quits for the series as I've really lost all interest.

/blogfaqs. What do you guys think of these games?

6>0>7>5>1>2>3>4

0>K2>LaD>Lost Judgment>Judgment>3>K1

Love the series.

I can understand why someone might get tired of the repeated use of Kamurocho but for me it's like a character itself so I actually kind of like that it always comes back.

Someone bought me 0 and I've just been awkwardly standing my ground like there's a chance it's armed or something.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Someone bought me 0 and I've just been awkwardly standing my ground like there's a chance it's armed or something.

whoever bought you 0 has good taste and its a shame you wont play it

0 is an amazing game that everyone should play even if they don't want to continue with the series, 1-3 are super dated (even the remakes) and generally not that great, 4/5 are where the series "got good" (0 came after them) and while they aren't as good as 0 they are generally solid games to play with, 6 is when they finally have a game on par with 0 (I would put 0 higher, but really both are amazing games and I could see someone liking it over 0 reasonably) though it's hard to really recommend as you kind of need to play the entire series to get to it, and Like a Dragon is very hit-or-miss in weird ways and is worth playing if you've played 0-6 but not really as strong of a draw as 6. I haven't played the spin-offs and have no interest in them at all.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Someone bought me 0 and I've just been awkwardly standing my ground like there's a chance it's armed or something.

Play it, love it, and forget about the series.

Just play Like a Dragon. It's the best one, and changes up the gameplay so it's not so much like the others.

I liked 0, 1 and 2 but I can't get into 3 at all

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


That's my favorite. I don't think it has ever been released in English though, so tough recommend.

0 is great, k1 and k2 worthwhile.

3-5 were a waste of time and I wish I never played them.

Now I'm at 6 and I can't even stomach this series anymore. I want to skip but it's supposed to be the end of kiryus story (finally) so I might try to do it.

Yakuza actually has no core gameplay and it's the reason I've never been compelled to continue playing despite enjoying my time with 0 and 7(LaD)

Yakuza is easy to get burnt out on, especially if you play them back to back

The only time I ever got burnt out was when I played the 3-5 remasters straight. I had already 100%d them before on PS3 and 5 is massive, so I was definitely starting to feel it by the middle of that game. Other than that I cant get enough of them, though I haven't played Lost Judgment yet.

ellis123 posted...

6 is when they finally have a game on par with 0

no

I enjoyed the first two Yakuzas on the PS2, but I hated pretty much each Yakuza that I played on the PS3 (neither Haruka nor having multiple protagonists has benefitted the series, IMO).

but while I was hesitant to try out Y0, I've heard nothing but good things...I ended up being disappointed by it, though, and the main thing I was hoping to happen didn't happen at all until after the credits (which wasn't supported by the story at all).

besides that, I also played Like a Dragon, but I wasn't really feeling it, either, but at least it and Y0 weren't as bad as Y3-Y5.

I feel like this series just isn't for me, tbh.

6 > K2 > LaD > 0 > L1 > 5 > 4 > 3

Freddie_Mercury posted...

no

You're right. It's actually better than 0.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Made my wife a Ryoma fan. Though the history in that game is very divergent from the reality.

Just be aware that 0 came after 1-5, so you're playing the series when it was still finding its stride

You gotta space these games out. Theyre good but too similar. Or play LaD.

The-Apostle posted...

You're right. It's actually better than 0.

no

The series is fun, but yeah, you can't play them back to back without getting burnt out on the same quests, minigames and combat.

2 was my fav and i saved kiwami 2 for last. dissapointed to hear he has his yakuza 6 moveset.

sigh.

LordMarshal posted...

You gotta space these games out.

lightwarrior78 posted...

The series is fun, but yeah, you can't play them back to back without getting burnt out on the same quests, minigames and combat.

I did not play these games back to back. This is across like 3 years.

LordMarshal posted...

You gotta space these games out. Theyre good but too similar. Or play LaD.

LaD was awesome. Preparing for the True Final Millennium Tower got boring however, so I went in mostly under prepare (because I forgot to switch to jobs I wanted for the dungeon), but won after getting lucky multiple times throughout the dungeon. I literally should've died like a dozen times minimum. It was awesome.

I got 0 and was playing on easy.
Dont care about the gameplay, I only care about the story.

i got burnt out on the series, and just dropped it completely. I couldn't play Judgement for more than 5 minutes because I got tired of the formula

play 0 and only 0

Ain't no way real people actually think 6 is as good as 0

it's not fair to compare 0 to pre 6 games considering 1-5 came out b4 it and as such was a better designed game

but yes i'd agree at least play like a dragon

I INSIST that you play Like A Dragon

Yakuza kiwami 1 is an abomination because the original game itself was shit. Kiwami 2 is great. 3 is a shit stain, while 4 is pretty good, 5 is waaaaaaaay too long. Its like 60 hours lol. That baseball guy is pure filler and can eat my ass, and yakuza 6 i liked alot

My only complaint about the series is that sometimes the cutscenes can be long-winded and repetitive. Lost Judgement was especially bad about this towards the end.

smoke_break posted...

My only complaint about the series is that sometimes the cutscenes can be long-winded and repetitive. Lost Judgement was especially bad about this towards the end.

Atleast the final boss was hype

ChrisTaka posted...

Ain't no way real people actually think 6 is as good as 0

lots of easy targets were swindeled by the drsgon engine.

Stallion_Prime posted...

4 is pretty good

No

ChrisTaka posted...

No

Eh its stupid as fuck but very enjoyable. Vastly superior to the abortion know as yakuza 5

smoke_break posted...

My only complaint about the series is that sometimes the cutscenes can be long-winded and repetitive. Lost Judgement was especially bad about this towards the end.

With the Judgment games, I feel like they've realized how convoluted these plots can be and are trying too hard to make sure players are following along. A lot of basic ideas being re-explained.

ChrisTaka posted...

Ain't no way real people actually think 6 is as good as 0

It's better than 0 tbqh...

Antifar posted...

With the Judgment games, I feel like they've realized how convoluted these plots can be and are trying too hard to make sure players are following along. A lot of basic ideas being re-explained.

Yeah I thought it was strange how it shows Yagami's inner monologue as he basically just repeats what a character just said

Which one is the one where everybody was pissed about rubber bullets? I have no idea what the context is but I remember hearing about people saying how stupid it was.

Darkninja42 posted...

Which one is the one where everybody was pissed about rubber bullets? I have no idea what the context is but I remember hearing about people saying how stupid it was.

I don't remember which game, but yeah, that was bad story telling.

ChrisTaka posted...

No

i liked 4 solely because that hostess lounge fight between Akiyama and that shirtless yakuza was kickass. loved the music

Darkninja42 posted...

Which one is the one where everybody was pissed about rubber bullets? I have no idea what the context is but I remember hearing about people saying how stupid it was.

4 lol. That was so dumb

Darkninja42 posted...

Which one is the one where everybody was pissed about rubber bullets? I have no idea what the context is but I remember hearing about people saying how stupid it was.

4

it's dumb but not that dumb compared to things like the ninja castle from 2 or the secret battleship from 6

Inb4 joeydollaz is wrong about Like a Dragon