Lol, that wasn't the worst thing government has done to try and be cool, remember when you pokemon goe'd to the poles?

I cringed so hard.....

Pavel Volkovoi I cringed so hard I shat myself.

That was worse than the Wagnerian opera singer rapping in The Most Unwanted Song and that was trying to be bad.

Thinking about what went into making that video hurts more

That was atrocious and it was glorious.

still a better story than Twilight & 50 shades of gynocentrism

It’s a fun substory, for sure. Plus, Ayu is a pretty memorable and likable character aside from the sex stuff.

@@redjed100 I'd argue she is likable and memorable BECAUSE of the sex stuff. The reason why she became a dominatrix and was so shit at it says a lot about her as a character. One of my favourite sidequests ever for sure.

(Side note though her likeness name and actress is an actual pornstar. I have erm... evidence.

Thankfully, ever since Yakuza 0 (which itself kind of benefited from the success of Persona 5 pulling interest toward the similar idea of a game set in Tokyo), this series has been enjoying an upswing in success. That people having been singing 0's praises on social media like nothing else has been a pretty big element of its success, too.

@@OneTrueNobody The hell are you on about? Persona 5 has nothing to do with Yakuza.

When Yakuza 7 ads started appearing on KZfaq I was getting annoyed of them. After beating Yakuza 0 and getting into Kiwami, however, the hype is real...and I'll still wait til I get through the rest of mainline Yakuza

Yup

This aged VERY well haha

That kind of game already exists, it's called real life and it mostly sucks. Here are the pros and cons: + Graphics/audio/framerate are amazing + The best physics engine - Forced to be online multiplayer - Pay to win - For most players the gameplay sucks with mostly tedious soul sucking(forced) sidequests

He should try to kickstart that

The Room - sponsored by Tommy Wiseau

Plus he's Warren Spector, now a total joke thanks to Epic Shitty.

@@mjc0961 What is so bad about Epic Mickey? Can you tell me without insulting the game again or me for asking?

FoxdenRacing idk, i think I saw them gangnam styleing couple months ago

FoxdenRacing I wasn't looking at the screen till after it started, my ass was looking for the skip button thinking it was an add

That and scapegoating Gun Violence to Videogames.

heard/saw the rap and questioned whether i was watching Jim sterling or not.

I was alive 25 years ago, and I assure you, middle-aged white people rapping was as cringe-inducing then as it is now. Really, it was a more widespread problem back then: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nZ6RpKSY2d3Vk4k.html

Ubibitious.

I think the problem is that backtracking is a thing that really only ever gets noticed when it's done badly. Good backtracking gets called "exploring a rich game world" and we love it.

What pbnjpeg said. When done well, the player won't even notice it as backtracking. But when done wrong, it's just an awful segment of the game. So people get only negative emotioms attached to it.

Probably because backtracking has to be worth your time. You finally got the item/power-up/whatever to progress or they throw a surprise or two your way. I'd say the easiest way to ruin it is by making the trip boring, which is really easy to do in an open world game. If the player has little reason not to use fast travel, you done goofed.:P

Did people forget about Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Dark Fucking Souls, and Hollow GOTY Knight to even dare to say backtracking are bad?

Because backtracking often means suffering through needless time wasting that doesn't enhance the story or experience. Like in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. God, that was a poorly organized game.

@Dracon Browne Video games are more interactive than TV shows, so it's practically NOTHING like that.

@Dracon Browne Nope.

@Dracon Browne Thanks. Same to you. :)

@Dracon Browne Dude, chill out. I was being hyperbolic.

​@Dracon Browne tbh I don't care if you're angry or not, but you're putting way too much into poking holes in my obviously hyperbolic statement about a city being a character. It's swiss cheese as it is. But okay. It seems very important to you that I acknowledge it. Yes, Kamurocho is not actually a character.

Dan Cohen good point

It's a B side.

Dan Cohen That vid is basically: "Aliens attempt to communicate to fellow humans"

But of course they learned this "Less we put in game, more we can sell as DLC"

Damn, you're right. I stand corrected. They didn't just learn that bit. They took it to heart so hard that it tore right through the sternum.

They lern it less contcet more microtranctions

I am pretty sure SEGA is one of AAA developer... or at least it was.

EA: "Less game, more lootboxes"

Yeah it was amazing!

notreallythere477 oh trust me, it is. If you ever do play it, you'll kick yourself for not trying it earlier

It really is a journey. Combat wise it's a simple beat em up that actually has some depth with how well you have to position to do some moves, but in the end it's all so visceral and cool that you just have a blast despite any flaws. But man, the writing, tone, side content, content density and main story are some of the absolute best I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Just don't play 5. Save yourself the headache.

I's start with Zero and just play the new releases. Each game builds on the others and the old PS3 releases, while cool, are going to feel like a step backwards.

LivingEidolon Highly recommend it man it’s one of my favourite series ever after playing 3 years ago. Combat is solid, characters are great can’t say enough good things

Well, the obvious advertising when you order a Ballantines or however you spell it in bars!

My brother ordered a bottle of Hibiki Whisky just because of the game. We even had ice balls in our glasses and Bakamitai to add to the moment lmao

TheAmazingDolphin with the phatest beats

Life’s good when you always comment on every jimquisition. Keep the meme alive.

It's a burden, free me

Memes. Not even once.

As a Utahn, sorry you had to see that.

Ikana Canyon is still my favorite location of any game atmosphere wise.

Agreed bro. I always liked how in Majora and some other zeldas you have to play the detective and find out what's going on in each area before it's dungeon time. Felt like TP and SS were too thin in that respect. Ikana was fantastic for this. The escalation from dying valley to the castle itself.

Great example. I had that world completely memorized when I beat it. I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day

The lazy has become the status quo. It's not like Ubi or the other big companies aren't aware of how to make a better game. It's that they simply cant churn a game out every six months or yearly iff they had to put in the effort. LAZY.GREEDY.

Yep, anyone can make a massive field and pepper shit all over it. Compact and intricate level design is what developers should focus on more.

mmmh. There's really something to be said for density of stuff, vs scale. Sure, a large set piece can be impressive. The grand canyon for instance... But the awe of it will only last so long. Eventually you're going to go looking for something to do. And what then? a small world with lots of unique and interesting details will go far further in the long run than some huge sprawling world that's lacking in... character. Both in terms of the design of an area and what's going on inside of it. Variety of content, not quantity. Memorability not scale. Breath of the wild at least gets the variety part down pretty good. There was always something over the horizon that caught the eye, and drew your attention. Drawing you in to take a closer look. And there was stuff literally everywhere you turned. The variety... Was a little less successful. While the dynamic systems helped a lot, one bunch of moblins is ultimately much like another. Finding a korok seed in a weird spot is amusing but ultimately repetitive, and the shrines present interesting challenges but all start to look far too samey. So, there we have a game that gets the compelling landscape and general idea of finding stuff everywhere broadly correct, but falls somewhat flat at making the activities you do find all that interesting. Yakuza seems like it does much better on the activities front, and about the same on the landscape/level design front, albeit on a smaller scale, and a structure that kind of prevents that 'what's that in the distance? ' vibe... mmmh. Open world design really is a challenge that is easy to mess up...

KuraIthys Sure you'd probably get tired at looking over at the Grand Canyon, but that place is far superior to these wide open-world games lacking substance. I'd have a blast if I had the opportunity to explore The Grand Canyon, game devs would have to somehow make their large open-world games as compelling as that, I'm thinking of GTA5 and Red Dead Redemption and how those succeeded.

In other words, any open world game not developed by Ubisoft.

Toimeton Has Kiwami 2 been confirmed for a western release?

No official word, but I'm sure they will. They might hold it for a bit though to make fans drum up hype and get some distance between releases.

Well to be fair, the games ran and looked like shit on the PS3. Yakuza 5 had like 2006 graphics and low framerate. But now on the PS4, they look beautiful and have 60fps.

Oh here we go with people talking about shiny graphics.

feyzal92 Which is crap argument. Story and gameplay make up for that...and you will NEVER get the sort of bizarre graphical malfunctions of other games here.

same I got to play the Yakuza series because I bought it in big discount than I fell in love with it, sega should promote it better in social media especially for the rest of the world because it's already more than successful in Japan

@@no-dr2jm Same!

Small. But packed with content.

Your

no he is a micro penis, you just don't understand

Jun Kurosu Thank you. It must've been the auto correct. I don't really pay attention...

Always that one guy that takes a joke seriously...

CrossfacePanda problem with it is it's the same game it was on the PS2. There's no innovation, but because it's all new to most mainstream gamers, it's a big thing.

It's a platform-exclusive, to me it basically does not, and never has, existed.

I have the exact same background as Jim. Introduced to Zero and then went on playing Kiwami, 3 to 5. They are great. Simply amazing and I'm happy these games get so much recognition recently. Fingers crossed for Kiwami 2

I just started a week ago cause my friend was forcing me and im enjoying this game sooo much.

CEWIIH It has improved, though. In too numerous a ways to mention. And the story is all new every time. Just because it takes place in the same city every time (at minimum, though usually there’s also new cities as well on top of that), doesn’t make it the same game again and again. And the reason it’s always centered around Kamurocho is because Japanese players love the sense of familiarity. It’s the same reason Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter and Pokemon make small changes rather than sweeping ones: it’s suppose to feel familiar. And I feel the same way with Yakuza; it’s like meeting an old friend every other year, and you’re excited not just to meet them, but to see what new toys they bring and what new stories they have to tell. It’s comforting.

I love the fact that the big "woopsy" Yakuza pulled was to release the full game as a Demo. That just made me smile. Imagen if Metal Gear Survive or any AAA game had there Demo be the full game. Atleast then it had made sence why the game was not finnihes. Imagen if AAA games had Demo's nowdays. Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Gammalad Much as I want to get mad at the stragglers, I also am glad they're finally giving this game series some deserved love.

I've been watching Vinesauce play kiwami and now I got a filthy itch to play yakuza 0.

Gammalad I've never played any of them, yet after hearing this I'm tempted to buy Kiwami as it's on sale n I can afford it but not 0 at the moment it's not in the sale, I hate huge empty worlds full of icons that mean nothing but a chest of pointless coins etc I.e filler content! I'll take small and interesting all day! Over big and bland! Give me interesting stories and ppl

After Yakuza 0 there's Yakuza Kiwami 1&2 (remakes of 1 & 2) then Yakuza 3 to 5 then the spin-offs Dead Souls (Zombie) Yakuza Ishin & Yakuza Kenzan (samurai times); Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (Basically Hokuto no Ken with yakuza gameplay).

Good purchase. Hope you enjoyed it.

I wanna further that point by saying I have a greater fondness for GTA III's and Vice City's maps than GTAIV or V simply due to their small scale. Everything got a lot more intimate and before long I was driving through the city without the need for the mini map because I'd learned where everything was by landmarks and so on. GTAV's map was so huge and sprawling an filled with basically nothing that I'd just open the map, click on an icon and mindlessly follow the GPS until I got to it. Meanwhile I could still probably find my way to any place in Vice City if you dumped me in a random location and told me to get there.

agreed with everything you just wrote. You have no choice in most open world games then to just follow a way point because there is nothing interesting in between point a to point b. I honestly feel games should go back to just having you travel on foot like yakuza, I honesty feel devs have to over compensate on the map because of vehicles.. they create all this extra space so you can drive superfast but what they dont realize is driving isnt that fun imo, kicking some dudes ass on my wayto my destination is

Omg I agree with everything on this thread! I love small open worlds that are packed with content ala Arkham City, and yes, after awhile you become familiar with every little corner of the map, which is awesome! I think taking away vehicles in open worlds is a great idea, because it makes smaller square yardage feel bigger because you traverse it slower, and it also encourages exploration more. Arkham City is another good example of this. I will disagree about GTA IV’s map... I thought it was small enough to where I became intimate with it, plus it helps that it was just incredibly well designed, with varied unique environments. GTA V’s map on the other hand, I remember very little of... it was disappointingly generic I thought. Please developers, prioritize density and design over square mileage!

Henry Barbee Henry Barbee There was a huge variety of things to do in “GTA V.” Maybe not enough to compensate for its square-mileage, and it’s also a little too big for its own good, but “GTA V’s” not a great example of “too big, not enough variety of things to do.” In my opinion, we have “Far Cry 3” to blame for the glut of games with too-big maps with not enough to do. But that game was good, partially because there was a lot of variety of ways to do what the game wanted you to spend most of your time with, and partially because of its main character. Honestly, though, I kind of hate that “Far Cry 3” was so good, because now it seems that it’s the sandbox game to be as opposed to “GTA,” and not enough developers know how to do what “Far Cry 3” did so well.

I've played enough Vice City to be able to do that, and that's the beauty of more compact maps. You're seeing every nook and cranny of it because every nook and cranny of that map is being used for in-game activities. With my limited time, I've already sunk 20 hours on Yakuza 0 and I barely touched the storyline.

are you sure this isnt the afterlife?

Ironic name.

*because your reckoning is still building my child*

onedeadsaint Your name would beg to differ. Lol

onedeadsaint *look behind you*

Yeah, I couldn't finish it. Playing yakuza kiwami now

That’s true, but the gameplay and mechanics (WHERE they exist, like in the level areas, including FOB infiltrations) are awesome

Getting to the bases and inhabited areas made all of that wasted time worth it to me, but it was still wasted time. The great irony is that the gameplay mechanics are so well developed and deep that it specifically didn’t need such a bloated and massive map to attempt to trick the audience into thinking it had more depth than it did, which is what so many games do. MGSV already had that depth of gameplay. Spacing the inhabited areas out so much actively made it a worse experience because those bases and villages and such are where you get to experiment the most with the gameplay.

@@icantthinkofaname1009 "wasted time is still wasted time" thank you, someone said it perfectly. It's all nice when it pays off but if i can spend 8 hours for two hours of REALLY fun time or just play 10 hours of pretty damn fun games throughout, I'm going to pick the latter especially as a chronophobiac

Even better is that it is very much based on an area in Tokyo called Kabukicho, try to look up the map and see how similar it is

Great thing about Yakuza map/city is that it progress just as much as the character and plot. This game has a construction site, next 2-3 games, you get to see that building already constructed, etc.

Yeah, games with smaller maps tend to turn these maps into their own characters in a way, always progressing through the game/series, damn, now i really want to play some rune factory.

You don't _love_ Jim? Wth's wrong with you?

I went to a peep show in Japan that was run by real yakuza. Sketchiest place I've ever been in my life. Some of the girls had cuts on their wrists, too.

Pretty much what I came to say.

Do you at least _like_ like him now? Please circle Yes or No

pockeii That can be applied to alot of jim's shit...you know where i'm going with this.

So true. I don’t even bother with collectables in GTA games

@@noticemesenpai69 i enjoyed all collectibles in 3D gta games. when it comes to last two gta games, i dont care about them.

They should advertise both together I think. Make Yakuza/Like a Dragon Sega's equivalent to Zelda.

I would love a Yakuza Forces. Build your own mobster OC, dress them up in a variety of tacky suits, be Kiryu's new best friend, fight the Tojo Clan's new genetically engineered Ultimate Yakuza Lifeform...

Make a crossover to cross promote them.

I have a theory that for every cringe-worthy moment and generally dull, boring, painful experience a sonic game causes someone, a Yakuza game gives an equally opposite, positive, experience.

Since Yakuza 0 there's been a huge jump in popularity so we very well may see Kiryu take sonic's spot as mascot...or at least appear along side the little blue bastard.

Ya but thats no excuse either bc Yakuza 6 looks really good graphically.

Dark Dodgers there is no way you came up with that hilarious sentence

I'm stealing this. Sorry not sorry.

Best thing the internet has given me all day.

I've seen it in several tweets already. Lots of people are claiming it as theirs.

I saw it first in an Honest Trailers KZfaq video.

I love Goromi-chan

Video Game Wasteland Jeez, I'm 62 hours in and only on Chapter 10, mostly because I insisted on finishing up the Cabaret Club Czar sidequests as soon as they became available and am now working on buying up Real Estate.

I think I'm on Chapter 10 or 11. Episode 19 was referring to the number of streams I've done! Yeah, I've been working on the real estate. Gets pretty easy after you take over the first area. I tend to do most of that off stream as it's not that exciting, but I love battling the area bosses! :)

Thank you Cohhcarnage please move onto a different game.

I'm finally on the last chapter, after all this time! XD

I just recently picked up the Enhanced Edition, and it's a blast.

Lesbian Lioness Welcome to the cult, dear. So glad you could join us!

If you think that's bad, look up Rappin' for Jesus. Nothing gets worse.

The paul brothers say hello

I like YelaWolf, Logic, Lil Dicky, and Killer Mike. They don't rap Awkward though

Killer Mike isn't white... that's El-P.

Ironic white people likeing black culture but hateing blacks people as a whole.

Behemothbear But will Sterling sell as many copies as they did?

There's a Discworld reference for every occasion.

McJazzhands pick up Kiwami next, duder. It's not as huge a game as zero, but it's a lot of fun still.

I've been thinking about it for a bit actually. Might have to wait because funds at the moment, but I'll definitely pick it up at some point.

The best games are ones that help you create memories of the experience. Yakuza has a world full of memorable moments and people that will stick with you. You become familiar with it very quickly. Walking past the same few landmarks repeatedly from various directions will stick in your mind way more than driving for 5 minutes cross country in GTAV, zooming past all the trees and buildings just to get to where you need to go faster. I think the very fact you can't drive around in Yakuza, forcing you to go at a slightly slower pace, pushes the player to memorise as they go. As a result you absorb way more in the 2-5 minutes it may take you to go from one end to the other than you would driving for 2-5 minutes in GTAV or riding on horse back in Assassins Creed or even The Witcher.

0 also has new game plus, you don't anything new in it besides I believe carry overs in levels and maybe money as far as practical things, but you also get alternate costumes and stuff, that is if you can't afford something else, also if you do all the substories besides 2 which unlock when you do the substories for each character you'll get a cool fight for each in one substory. Then there is the Colosseum. I'd like to point out that Yakuza Kiwami released at a 30 dollar price tag so it won't break the bank, especially now. (albeit I'm super glad I got the metal case edition)

McJazzhands remasters Of Yakuzas 3-5 confirmed and the Yakuza 2 Remake/Kiwami 2 is coming on August 28.

What I liked most is just when I started to feel a little bored with walking around trying to find sub quests or trying to make progress in Mahjong (that game is voodoo and my primitive monkey brain cannot fathom it), I'd just go into the story and be utterly absorbed by the wonderfully directed and choriographed melodrama. It's so deeply compelling that I kinda have to force myself not to just binge it in one go. It's like getting a really fine and expensive steak at a restaurant. You could just woof it down, but there's also the side dishes that you should enjoy as you go. Savour it, darn it!

They just added Y6 to the NA psn store so there's even more fun to be had. Unless you're waiting for Kiawami 2.

I'd go as far to say that Black and White 2 is the single best Pokemon games.

Definitely two of my favorite games, and they actually came out at a time when I thought I might be getting burnt out on the series (or the main one anyway).

Personally that Gen wasn’t my favorite. I’m a stickler for art design and the entire pallet of its game World was kind of muted but I did appreciate the Pokémon story and clever use of asset reusing while only adding on a few things. Zorua, my favorite Pokémon, came from this gen

I haven't beat a Pokemon game since uhh... Ruby? Sun and Moon were pretty cool tho.

It's just a mini game, overall you can play virtua fighter 5 for example in full (arcade version) in Yakuza 6 for example, they bring their games in and make some new ones. I mean they couldn't just take a game they don't own and put it in.

Plantman Kiwami coming soon. I’ve been playing through PS+ and.... I might be addicted 😄

@@shizuwolf Yes, unfortunately it says "coming soon", which says nothing about the release on PC.

It actually is.

I love Shenmue, but Yakuza is leagues better

K. D. Koenigsdrache It's worth it. Start with Kiwami.

The only exceptions I can think to this are GTA IV/V and TW3. All had reasons to explore and venture. BOTW isn't bad either but a bit too much running for mine.

No offense but I have to disagree. GTA 4 and 5 i personaly found extremly boring. Maybe its not even rockstars fauld but the GTA formula was so many times copied there is no excitment in it anymore. Absolutly GTA5. Most missions are just preperations for bigger ones, like driving the slowest vehicle in the game from A to B or stupid minigames like moving some cargoboxes around. The autoaim is so overhelming that not even shooting ppl is fun. I didn't play BOTW. And I agree that the witcher 3 has definitly a very rich open world but everything interessting in the world is already marked on the map. So why bother exploring the world beyond this markers? The witcher 3's strongpoint is its narritive and the game shines at location with alot of quests in a narrow space and not while exploring the world on you're horseback an getting stuck in every fucking tree. There was also a mission you had to follow a boy trough a swamp to get his voice back or something like that. The swamp was just an big open area but because the boy just run into monsters I had to fight them. Again a big open area it would have been easy to avoid this monsters. If you are to lazy to put a little bit more into leveldesign then at least give me the option to use the open area. The Witcher 3 is a great game but in my opinion it could have been alot better with a more compact world or some better leveldesign.

K. D. Koenigsdrache I always found GTA's characters completely unlikeable, and running round causing chaos got old fast.

NO! Don't start with Kiwami. Start with Yakuza 0 then go on to anyone 1-6. But if you want to go through the series chronologically after 0- go with Kiwami

Agreed! The Ballad of Gay Tony was frankly way better than the entire GTA4 story. I wish they did the same with GTAV instead of this online bullshit.

TheArtkaw true

Parody does have a place in hip hop and rap. It’s why figures like The Biz are still beloved. Or are you just talking about old white people? Because yeah they can stop...

Nah... It has reached the Maryland Point.

Well, look, it CAN be done, but it does take actual skill... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7BnYLVnybyan4k.html Considering none of these guys are particularly even musicians, let alone used to working with rap...

Parody rap can work, but only if it's written by someone who actually knows how to write comedy and execute wordplay. The keyword is competence.

would you rather they use a more current trend? I don't know, leaked nudes?

I thought it was a boring GTA clone until I played that game 😄