That’s right. My bad. I forgot you were already playing Yakuza Zero but put it on hold. You really need to finish it. A great fucking game!!
The Tiny Tina DLC just didn’t play good especially after playing Borderlands 3 for around 30 hours. It feels like an old Xbox 360/PS3 game/dlc which is what it is but I would have liked to see them improve it to play better than it does. Of course, that would explain why it’s only $10 and on sale for $5. Barely any effort was put into it. It’s just a cash grab by Take Two. I figured that im better off waiting for Wonderlands which look great and should play even better than when I played Borderlands 3 since that was on PS4 Pro and Wonderlands will be played on Series X.
Can’t really speak to performance or visuals since I played 0 on my base PS4 but Kiwami runs on a different engine. I meant mostly in terms of gameplay and writing. It is a remake of the first game and is generally much more grounded, so there isn’t as much silly or outrageously dramatic stuff that I personally find the most endearing.
In terms of gameplay, there’s one particular mechanic that is pretty lame: Bosses have the ability to regenerate health rapidly and you have to knock them out of it with a specific heat move (which sucks if you blow through your heat gauge right beforehand) I don’t think I managed to do it properly once and just wailed on them to outdamage the healing because I’m stubborn
Oh damn, that does sound annoying, lol. But it’s good to know it’s still doable. It probably would have been a better idea to play these games in release order. That way you appreciate the tech improvements way more. But for story chronological is better.
I do think that 0 is a great entry point into the franchise. It’s a real culmination of everything they learned while making the series, it feels good, is well-written, and has a ton of content. So if any non-Staffys are reading this, it’s well worth it at this sale price
I wouldn’t say it’s “that much worse” but yes, it is somewhat of a stepdown. Primarily because it wasn’t intended to be a big-budget release. In terms of writing especially, but that is excusable since it’s a remake of the original game, which was their first go at it. Yakuza 0, meanwhile, was their 6th mainline game (with a few spinoffs in between). The performance/graphics is essentially the exact same as 0. The combat is extremely similar, but I feel like the balancing isn’t quite right compared to 0. Some bosses are really annoying.
Well, Kiwami actually came after 0. But yes, the ideal way would be to play the original 2 on the PS2 first and then go on in release order. That way you avoid being taken aback by Yakuza 3 being an early PS3 game after playing Kiwami 2, made with the latest engine.
But story wise it’s better to play in chronological order, right? Although for those that were there day one they had to play them release order. I guess I could still do this, put 0 on halt and start with the very first released game. It’s on GP too and not leaving yet either. I’ll think about what to do.
I went in Game Pass release order. Started with 0 then the rest. You can do that or do 0 afterwards and let it be a prequel, don’t think you gotta over think it.
I’ve always enjoyed the Yakuza series but for me personally I needed to have the games spoken in English to appreciate the story. But that’s not to say people should skip the older games because they are great, but honestly I skipped most of the cutscenes after a few hours. I know I’m probably the silent majority but I’m pretty happy they are finally in English.
If you’re going to play them all, Yakuza Zero > Kiwami > Kiwami 2 > Y3 > Y4 > Y5 > Y6.
Kiwami was a remake of the original PS2 game in their new game engine. Yakuza Zero is not a remake of anything. It’s a brand new game that they decided to do. Kind of like a prologue to Kiwami to show you how the characters became what they were known.
Kiwami isn’t bad by any stretch. I rated it an 8/10. Zero/Kiwami 2 an 8.5/10. Majority is very similar. It’s the story and characters in Zero which to me excels in the most and above the rest.
This is very valid as well since Zero is a new game (as opposed to the rest that were remakes/remasters) and could be played at any time.
@Staffy - I recommend Zero first only because it’s basically a prologue that shows you how all the characters became what they were in the series.
Yeah, to each their own. It’s always best if there are options
For me, I try to have the language set to what makes sense if there is an option. I play Yakuza in Japanese, AC Unity in French, A Plague Tale in French (even though they stupidly also made the british soldiers speak French lol) etc. etc. It does wonders for my immersion!
