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Yakuza 5


Badnik Mechanic

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I know there was a topic on this... but I cannot find it anywhere.

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Format: PS3 (Digital in the west (22GB), physical in the east)

Release: Out now

Trailer: 

So for full disclosure, Sega gave me a review code for this game, but odds are I would have made a topic on this game anyway because... mother of god it's brilliant!

Yakuza 5 builds on the previous game, it takes what was good and builds on it. The first thing which hits you when you start the game is the sheer scale of it all, everything is bigger, the first city is huge, it's packed full of content which will keep you entertained for hours.

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For example, there's a taxi sidequest which gives you 3 different gameplay modes, a realistic taxi driving simulator in which you have to drive through the city obeying traffic signs, using correct signals, talking to customers and arriving on time. Another is just the talking to customers, and the final is a racing mode. 

This side quest took 7 hours to beat! 

As you go through the main storyline you'll encounter other things to do which can really distract you from the game, for example I went into a cafe looking for health, ended up playing darts. 

But all the content is actually really well made and has direct impact on the main game.

For example, at one point I was doing a side quest for a chef, I was walking all over the city looking for restaurants, I thought 'all I'm going to get for this is a health drink.' What actually happened was my health bar doubled in size and I unlocked a totally new combat/stat enhancement system, this was from an optional sidequest! 

But even the game design, it's done so well, for example, one mission I'm told 'get a gift for this guy' so off I go into the city and I've not been told what to buy, no clues at all, so as I'm browsing the shops I entered the arcade, played some games and won a prize, Kaz then says 'this might be a good gift' I then realised that the games exploration and playing these optional side quests do have an impact on the game, you can go off into stores or play games and it will impact the main storyline. 

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That's great game design! Instead of having missions which involve you exploring the city, the game has all these things to do in the city which are open from the start, you can go when you like to play them, but by doing this you learn the game, the environment, this allows each objective to actually be a decent objective and not some kind of tutorial in disguise. 

But above all else, the side quests and extra content is really fun, it's amazingly well made and so far nothing feels like a deliberate 'we just slapped this in here because.'

As for the main game... what can you say, it's a masterpiece. In many ways it feels like a 3D Streets of Rage, you go through the city, gangs will approach you and try to take you out, you beat them up and move on.... however overriding all this is a huge crime network and conspiracy, you realise how insignificant these thugs are compared to the umbrella of crime which covers the whole city.

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There's multiple playable characters, but one of the most interesting is Haruka who is the girl from the previous games, now a teenager she's doing what many teens her age aspire to, being a pop star, it should be terrible, but it's not, it's really good! Aside from singing and dancing, there's even a minigame where you have to meet and greet creepy fans and deal with them so that they shake your hand move on before security pulls them away!

Combat is brilliant, it's so much fun and satisfying, if it aint broke don't fix it, it wasn't broke, they just added tons more moves into it!

You can find my full review here Or the video one here

Anyone else pick this up? If not why?

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I would get it but i'm out of space on my PS3 (currently waiting for my 1tb external to arrive) :(

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I'm currently playing though Yakuza 4, but I bought 5 to play afterwards.

I really can't wait to get into 5, because 4's incredible.

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Currently playing it and i love it! AND MY GOSH SEGA EASTER EGGS! Ufo catcher prizes, Actual playable Virtua Fighter 2 WITH ONLINE!, background music from Daytona USA, Sega Rally 2001 and OutRun for the racing missions. AND MIKU! HATSUNE FREAKING MIKU makes multiple cameos in this game: Prize figure, Snow statue in Saporo and Bonus costume for Haruka in Premium Adventure mode! ARGHHGBVDDGYIJB...

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Hopefully the game is successful enough to not only secure Western releases for future games (I know Yakuza 0 recently got confirmed for a Western release though), but also maybe even physical releases as well. Giving these games the necessary exposure would be a great step towards restoring Sega's reputation as a brand like they've recently promised to do.

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This one's gonna last me a while, there's definitely more content than previous games (which were already content rich). What actually surprised me the most, so far, is they go into such depth with the side bits like the cab job you mentioned. Right after that is an in-depth hunting and trapping game with Saejima which has its own pretty major story.

Edited by Conando
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  • 4 weeks later...

Big bump for this topic (and maybe a bit late) but playing this game really reminds me of the things that i've really grown to miss from video games these days. Things like extra minigames that are not only fun but in this game in particular are really well made and the sidestories like the taxi cab driving, the hunting, and the batting shenanigans with shinada are all great fun that really adds to the game in ways that I can't explain all too well. Not to mention this game isn't afraid to be silly every now aand again, sure you have this really dramatic and tense story scenario going on in the main game but the very next minute you could be making noodles in a ramen shop, playing baseball with a shrimp bat, or even playing taiko drum master for christ sakes. Lots of games nowadays just stick with one or two things and, while yes they do come out better for it, they don't have the same appeal and fun factor that games like this series and the wonderful 101 have for me and I feel like if more games tried to be as open minded and creative as this game does i'd be spending much more money on them lol.

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