Yakuza series PLAYSTATION 3

[shai_sr12345]

Hello everyone. I need help with issue that I have.

 

After days and some thoughts about the yakuza game series, i finally desided to give it a try. But I want to play, the most majority of the series on the PlayStation3.

 

Also i find some problem, with the game catalogs for the series on the PlayStation3 version of the series.

 

First of all: i see some games in collection version, that have Japanese covers like 1&2 collection and some other PlayStation 3 Japanese version.

 

In my knowledge, i understand that all the games with the Japanese covers on the cases, are Japanese ports and the series, doesn't have english cover version for some of the games of the series for the PlayStation 3 system version of the series. Wich of the series have Japanese cover version only for the series ad does they have europe or us version beside of Japanese version.

 

Does they (the Japanese cover version of the series) have a English sub or subtitles build with them in the first place, or they did get a patch for English sub or subtitles in the future. 

 

Second: I've heard that the series have a remaster/remake version on the ps4. But I want to know, if they have a specific name, for the remaster/remake version of the game. And what they are called in other territories, becouse that what happened with some games on different countries and different territories for specific system version.

 

Also I heard that the series have name that called kiwami, does they spins off, and if not what are they supposed to be.

 

 

Third: what are those games in the series, and what are the place of them in the series: Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (also I see sequel for this game). And what platform is on and if he have a remaster for other platforms of PlayStation system's .

 

Yakuza Ishin - same for this game and also the Yakuza: Dead Souls and last one Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (does it the same game like Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō but a regular version and the Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshōis the expanded one of the series). 

 

Also I wanted to say that someone tell me the order for the series is:

yakuza zero
yakuza kiwami
yakuza kiwami 2
yakuza 3
yakuza 4
yakuza 5
yakuza 6

 

But he didn't mention the other games that I see for the series like the other ones that I mention. I want to know exactly what are these game becouse it the first time that I am interested in the series and want to play them in the proper way and the easiest way to understand and play them with no other problems

 

P.s: sorry for my Misunderstanding of the post, but my English is not perfect as it used to be. 

 

 

Hope you will help me with the issue.

 

Have a nice day or evening/night (when you will look on this post). 

 

 

[Orphioon]

Yakuza 1, Yakuza 2 and Yakuza Ishin are all in Japanese, i have yet to do ishin, but i can speak to the previous 2 as I've done them.

 

These games are very heavily texted based and have lots of missables, which normally would make this nearly impossible to 100% for a non Japanese speaker.

These games have no subtitles on the ps3, though there are older versions of the games that have both english subtitiles and even english voices in 1.

Luckily for us, @soliunasm created 2 really good trophy guides that are hosted on PSNProfiles for both Yakuza 1 and 2 so that all English speakers can easily get the 100%, i would really recommend them.

 

Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 are re-imaginings of Yakuza 1 and 2, they both have a similar structure of the story, but they both have many additions and a few subtractions, the additions are far too numerous to count, but from a gameplay point of view, they are basically different games.

 

The order you wrote out seems correct to me, though i haven't played much of Yakuza 3 and 5, so i could be wrong.

 

I find it hard to understand a lot of your post, so i hope i answered at least some of what you asked.

[soliunasm]

Ryu ga Gotoku (龍が如く) or "Like a Dragon" is the series name in Japan, the series barely has anything to do with Yakuza themselves, it revolves around an ex-Yakuza member and his friends but Sega wanted a name to try and catch the western market when they were localizing 1 so they chose Yakuza mostly for marketing purposes.

 

The release order of the games is:

1 --> 2 --> Kenzan --> 3 --> 4 --> Black Panther --> Dead Souls --> Black Panther 2 --> 5 --> Ishin --> 0 --> Kiwami 1 --> 6 --> Kiwami 2 --> Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise --> Judgment --> 7

Most people nowadays play it like this:

0 --> Kiwami 1 --> Kiwami 2 --> 3 HD --> 4 HD --> 5 HD --> 6 --> Judgment --> 7

 

Choose however you want to play, just remember that if you choose the latter order you're going all over the place in terms of gameplay polish and the engines will change constantly while the release order is obviously how it was originally done so they learned as they went. The Black Panther games aren't mandatory in any way and they play entirely differently, but the other side games show you how the series evolved (Tons of stuff that Kenzan does are improved in 3 and it references it constantly) and they're referenced tons of times in the series.

 

 

Kenzan (PS3) and Ishin (PS3 and PS4) are Edo and Meiji era samurai spinoffs respectively. They play like the main games just with weapons as your primary attacking method instead of bare-handed though the games do have unarmed styles. These are both Japanese only, KHHSubs did guides for both games if you want to play through them, though you have to go to his Youtube channel if you want cutscene translations for Ishin. Kenzan has a translation patch in the works but it's all over the place in terms of development right now and would require you to emulate the game or hack your PS3 to play the patch at all even when it does come out. Kenzan has no trophies, Ishin has a full trophy list. There's some talk from the RGG team of a potential Kenzan Kiwami, but right now there's nothing on the table. You will have to rely on Japanese guides if you want to 100% Kenzan though, warning you right now, the one on GameFAQs isn't enough and very confusing.

 

Black Panther 1 and 2 (Kurohyou 1 and 2) are on the PSP and are by the guys who made the Def Jam games. They play like the Def Jam games as well just with Yakuza spins, it revolves around a character named Tatsuya and his adventures. It features Akiyama and Hana from Yakuza 4 along with some references to Kiryu, but otherwise it's its own self-contained thing. Again, this is Japanese only, there's been a translation patch in the works for BP1 for years but that's been stalled because they simply don't have the volunteers. Both games are pretty fun. There was also a TV drama made from these games but the subs for them are crabsticks since they're Japanese into Chinese into English bootlegs, they're a pain in the butt to find, and none of the story is the same as the games. Even from the first episode Tatsuya's character is nothing like it is in the game and the events of why he got pulled into the Dragon Heat are done incorrectly.

 

Dead Souls (PS3) is a shooter spinoff that was the testing bed for Binary Domain. It's plagued by a lot of technical problems (Bad framerate, some really annoying controls if you're used to TPS games, and lots of meandering to get places) but it's alright. If you are going to play it do so after 4.

 

Judgment (PS4) is a new series based in the same universe and town. It's a direct sequel to 6 but doesn't feature any main characters from Yakuza, just some small references and areas, it's mostly standalone.

 

The Kiwami games are remakes of 1 and 2 which were on the PS2.

Kiwami 1 runs on the same engine as 5, Ishin, 0, and Fist of the North Star so it plays like those. It takes place after 0 and features more Nishiki cutscenes, more minigames (Compared to 1), lots of quality of life improvements, nothing is missable in the game (1 has several substories and locker keys you can miss permanently), and new substories on top of consolidating some substories.

Kiwami 2 runs on the same engine as 6, Kiwami 2, Judgment, and 7 which is the latest engine and plays noticeably different to the rest. It has physics, it has a bunch of quality of life changes, you can climb over a lot of stuff, battles are instant in the world and can be taken all over, etc. Kiwami 2 consolidates substories, replaces the Marietta and hostesses with Four Shine and Majima Construction stories, makes it so nothing is missable (2 could permanently lock you out of the secret boss for the entire save if you made a mistake in any substory and saved), adds a bunch of new substories, there's a new short story campaign called Majima Saga that explains some things and closes plotlines 0 started because they weren't part of the later games, they removed a side area called Shinseicho completely and tweaked everything that took place there to take place in Sotenbori, and Sotenbori is changed up a bit compared to what it originally was.

 

The versions of Yakuza 1 and 2 HD you see are Japan exclusive, it was released on PS3 and Wii U roughly around when 5 came out in Japan. They're still 30 FPS as far as I remember but they have Hard difficulty, load times are way shorter compared to the PS2 versions, you have checkmarks in Yakuza 1 when you buy stuff at restaurants, and Yakuza 2 has item icons in stores. They're basically the definitive version of the PS2 games but they were never released in English and only in Japanese. Both games do have trophy lists.

 

Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 are currently being localized on PS4 as "The Remastered Collection". 3 HD and 4 HD have been released in English already, 5 HD is in January I think, if you want the games physically they're doing a small production run of 3 through 5 HD in one package once 5 HD releases digitally.

3 HD is the definitive version in the west so ignore the PS3 version, there's no reason to play that version unless you know Japanese (Because the Japanese version of 3 on PS3 has no cut content like 3 HD or cut content, censorship, and a bad localization like western 3 on PS3 does).

4 HD replaced a main character's actor and model because of a bunch of drama surrounding his actor, some hostesses were changed because they didn't get their licenses back so they just threw some of the ones from 3 HD to replace them, and they censored one of Akiyama's funniest lines for no reason when it's not even remotely offensive when you play the game for more than five minutes and realize he cares for Hana deeply and is just joking around with her, but other than that it's fine.

I haven't read anything about 5 HD having any changes that I can recall, I think some hostesses got changed again but that would be about it.

 

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the RGG team's take on the Fist of the North Star universe. It runs on the same engine as 5, Ishin, 0, and Kiwami 1, it does feature two characters from the Yakuza series and has a Kiryu skin, but otherwise it's its own thing.

 

 

Do not play these games in a row, there is a lot that's reused and they're very long games with the shortest one being like 60 hours to 100% (6) and the longest one being 200-300 hours to 100% (5). On average you're looking at 100-120 hours per game if you want 100% and the Platinum as they all require close to 100% or 100%. One thing to keep in mind is that the games reference previous games constantly, so for example Ishin gets referenced a ridiculous amount of times in 0, Dead Souls is always referenced in some way (Judgment even has a minigame with it), and Kenzan is heavily referenced in 3 because it came right after it.

Edited November 26, 2019 by soliunasm

[Z1MZUM]

^ This is a brilliant description and a good read to any fan of the game, just chiming in here.

 

My only addition is nothing more then an opinion, Kiwami 1 and 2 are beautiful in comparison to other so called remaster/remakes. 

[GT__Jedi]

So, I have the Yakuza Kiwami that was a PS Plus released game back in November 2018. Can I just start with this one or ?

[soliunasm]

7 minutes ago, PermaFox said:

So, I have the Yakuza Kiwami that was a PS Plus released game back in November 2018. Can I just start with this one or ?

Despite Kiwami being a remake of 1 it adds a bunch of new scenes for Nishiki since he was horribly underdeveloped in 1, references, and substories which tie back to 0 and follow it. Kiwami is specifically expecting you to have played 0 because it builds upon gameplay mechanics, characters, and setups introduced in 0. You can play Kiwami first if you want to, but I'd wholly recommend starting with 0 if you're going to go that route assuming you don't want to touch the PS2 version of 1.

[GT__Jedi]

@soliunasm  Thanks for the info!

[Crispy_Oglop]

Totally respect your decision to play them on the PS3, but it's never been a better time to play them on the PS4, from early next year onwards you'll be able to experience the entire main entry collection English versions of 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 all on the same console in their entirety. Well worth doing it all there in my opinion. Either way, hope you have a great time with them all, truly one of my favourite franchises of all time and i can't wait for the English version of Yakuza 7 next year.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Crispy_Oglop

[DEI2EK]

@soliunasm

so i've played and loved the yakuza series for a while now, i've beaten all them, but i have absolutely no idea how to play most of the japanese minigames like mahjong, shogi, and all the dice games, what is the best way to learn that stuff, how did you do it?

[soliunasm]

22 hours ago, DEI2EK said:

@soliunasm

so i've played and loved the yakuza series for a while now, i've beaten all them, but i have absolutely no idea how to play most of the japanese minigames like mahjong, shogi, and all the dice games, what is the best way to learn that stuff, how did you do it?

 

When it comes to the Japanese games I've got writeups on how to play every game in my Ishin guide. Just ctrl+F your game in this list for my full tutorials on them since there's a lot to explain.

 

Mahjong looks complicated but it's pretty simple, there's just rules that penalize you if you steal tiles from other players when they discard them. You can either check out my Ishin guide for my own writeup on mahjong, or you can check out the more in-depth one for Yakuza 0. It's somewhat like gin rummy if you have ever played that card game.

You never have to learn shogi ever for any of the games. All the moves in 2 for the story are predetermined and you can just pay your way out of it anyway. For the completion list you can always just go to a shogi player, choose challenge 1, Youtube your game + shogi challenge 1 and get a video detailing the exact moves then just do that a bunch of times. If you for some reason want to do something like beat Esper Itou in Dead Souls (Which isn't required for anything but your own satisfaction) or you want to rise the ranks there's a program called Shogidokoro that is a client to play against an AI. Just download the SpearShogi AI (Which is a grandmaster tier AI) and have that AI play against the game AI and it will always win. I have never learned this game so I never bothered to learn it and never plan to.

 

Koi-koi will obviously be the most confusing game to play, it's got a bunch of rules for hands but once you learn what makes special hands it gets to be super simple.

Cee-lo is just rolling dice and either getting special rolls or your roll is based on the outlying number when you roll a double.

OIcho-kabu plays like baccarat, so you want to reach as close to 9 as possible to beat the dealer or the players. If a dealer equals your hand the dealer wins instead of you drawing.

Cho-han is just you guessing if the dice will be evens or odds and then once you guess correctly enough you can start guessing the exact number(s) of the dice or even the distance between the numbers on the dice.

 

Oh, and to answer your question to how I learned them, the answer is simple. I just kept replaying them over and over while looking up the rules on Wikipedia until things started to click. Koi-koi took me like ten games to understand what constituted a special hand and what to keep or discard on top of how the AI plays, Cee-lo, Oicho-kabu, and Cho-han are so easy to pick up there's no issues with them since the most they have is a couple special rolls and you learn them very quickly. Mahjong took me longer because I had to be told how yaku work and not to steal stuff, but once I learned those I started looking at the simpler hands (Full Straight, All Doubles, no 1 or 9 tiles, wind/double wind, table wind, dragon tiles, Full Color Straight, Identical Sequences, No-Point Hand) and once you learn those simpler hands you will notice your wins start accumulating way more because you now know how to turn your mess of a hand into a winning one and what way you should go with it. Still kind of lost on how ura-dora works, but overall I really enjoy mahjong now.

Edited November 27, 2019 by soliunasm