Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (Yakuza, Judgment, Binary Domain + more!) Discussion Thread

[Readher]

If they release Kiwami 2 before E3, I fully expect 3-5 remasters to be announced for the West there alongside PC versions. Other PC announcement candidates are Fist of the North Star (same engine as Yakuza 0, Lab42 should have a solid pipeline for that already), Shin Sakura Taisen (strategy game, Valkyria Chronicles people are working on it and I believe they make PC versions themselves so no need for outsourcing) and if we're lucky, an Atlus/Vanillaware title.

 

[d1r]

Can somebody please tell me how to approach boss fights in Kiwami? I just fought against Majima (Normal difficulty) in this Indoor baseball building, and had some serious trouble beating him.

After probably seven retries or so, I finally beat him, but still couldn't figure out the flow of this fight. Every longer combo of me often resulted in him dodging it and performing a much stronger counter attack, and melee and ranged items were completely useless. I kinda got him in an infinite loop by using a 2-hit combo with Furry Style (Light Punch -> Strong Punch), but I don't believe that this is how you actually do boss fights in this game.

 

[Deflowerer]

Unlock the ability to quickly switch styles on the fly without the animation delay. Then alternate between Rush and Thug.

 

[Gearmos]

Out in 3 weeks:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/927380/Yakuza_Kiwami_2/

 

[Reinhardt]

День Победы.

 

[Ivan]

 

[mogwaimon]

https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/yakuza-kiwami-2 May 8th, boys, and only 30 bucks. This site has it for 23.99 including all the DLC so you can't go wrong there, and yea they're reputable. I got my DMC5 preorder from them, got the deluxe edition for only 53 bucks down from 80 and got the key on release day.

 

[Lyre Mors]

YESSSSSS!

 

[Reinhardt]

Kiwami 2 for me costs more than previous two games combined but it's still only 20$ so i'm ok. It's just both 0 and Kiwami were dirt cheap - less than 10$ each at release.

I still don't understand SEGA pricing policy but i guess better this than Valkyria Chronicles 4.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Kiwami 2 for me costs more than previous two games combined but it's still only 20$ so i'm ok. It's just both 0 and Kiwami were dirt cheap - less than 10$ each at release.

I still don't understand SEGA pricing policy but i guess better this than Valkyria Chronicles 4.

Pretty sure they're trying to warm the PC crowd up to the idea of paying higher prices. Also, Kiwami 2 is on a new engine, is a newer release, and a bigger game than Kiwami, so it makes sense. Honestly, I'm so thrilled these games are coming to PC that I would have gladly paid more for all of them. Pretty solid of SEGA to release them for such low prices (though I know they have their ulterior motives).

Anyway, was slowly putting off my completion of Kiwami until I heard an official release date for Kiwami 2. Did not expect it to be releasing 3 weeks after the announcement - or so soon, for that matter - so I went ahead and finished up the first one tonight. Clearly the weaker between it and 0, but entirely excusable because it was a faithful remake of the genesis of the series, except with some excellent improvements/additions. Had a great time overall, and its a must play for a fan of any of the Yakuza games.

Now for the true gem of a remake. Absolutely pumped for Kiwami 2. What a good time to be gaming.

 

[Readher]

Kiwami 2 literally came out in the West in August last year and the base price on PS4 is still 50 Euros. 30 Euros is a very fair price and you can get it even cheaper on Fanatical. Every other publisher would charge full price for sure. Somehow they think that just becauae you're releasing on a new platform, it doesn't matter that the game is already several years old (often many years if you count from the Japanese release) and has seen -50% discounts on consoles, you can charge full price just fine.

 

[flyingjohn]

I wonder if they are gonna bring 6 next considering the 3-5 hd versions are Japanese only.

 

[Readher]

I wonder if they are gonna bring 6 next considering the 3-5 hd versions are Japanese only.

I think the fact that they went for Kiwami 2 first even though Yakuza 6 was supposed to come to PC earlier if Sega's financial report is to be trusted combined with the fact that they're rushing the release before E3 (E3 announcement would definitely mean more hype) means they're going for simultaneous announcement of 3-5 remasters for PS4 and PC at E3 (or at least Y3 remaster if they're going one by one and not bundling them, though I doubt it). It doesn't seem like Kiwami 2 was ported by Lab42 (studio behind Y0 and K1 ports), but I can't find any info on who's behind it. Either they contracted another studio that's yet to reveal itself for Dragon Engine games (Yakuza 6 might even be ready and just waiting for the proper time to release) or they're doing it in-house. Y3 and Y4 use different engine than Y0, but Y5 uses Y0 engine. Lab42 seems to be busy with their Snooker game though so I wonder how Sega will go about porting the future titles. I wouldn't be surprised if Lab42 will get FotNS, some other studio will get Y3 and Y4 (or Sega will do them in-house) and then Lab42 will come back for Y5 (Snooker should be out of the way by then). Whoever is in charge will obviously get Judgment (and Y6 if it's not ported yet).

 

[Readher]

Whoever is in charge will obviously get Judgment (and Y6 if it's not ported yet).

I meant whoever is in charge of Kiwami 2 port there.

 

[karoliner]

I really hope they get around localizing Kenzan! and Ishin! one day.

 

[Readher]

I really hope they get around localizing Kenzan! and Ishin! one day.

Kenzan has child prostitution in the main plot and side stories so don't count on that. It would also need a remaster at this point since it's the first PS3 game.

Ishin on the other hand is pretty likely imo. There just needs to be some window between new releases since Sega translation team said new projects take priority over backlog.

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

Yakuza 0 was a grind the story goes nowhere between chapter ~4-18, you fight Kuze how many times? There is no transition from sane to insane Majima, you get a few cutscenes which may or may not explain the transition but who cares if it doesn't affect the player in any way.
Kiwami much more straightforward, can enjoy side content better.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Spoiler

The twist is that Majima was and never has been insane.

 

[Readher]

Relevant part about Samurai spin-offs from an interview with Sega translation team:

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

They shouldn't be so coy playing with me like that, how big is this window supposed to be? I'm already in deep shakes over not getting another hit of Yakuza!

 

[Readher]

Judgment releases in June so they'll have that out of the way. Afterwards there are 3-5 remasters (out of which only 3 should reauire significant work) and Shin Yakuza depending on how far is its development. We might be getting Ishin soon, all things considered.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Yea I'd put definately higher chances on Ishin getting a Western release than Kenzan, Ishin at least uses the Zero Engine and released on current gen.

 

[taxalot]

Is Kiwami actually worth it ?
I played Yakuza 1 back then, and the blend of visual upgrades for dated mechanics tend to produce a very awkward feeling.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Kiwami doesn't use the old mechanics, much of its fighting system is derived from Zero. It's also got a lot more substories, and far more minigames (ie, Pocket Circuit).

 

[Punch]

The more i play yakuza 0 the more the cracks are starting to show.

Yeah a lot of minigames are kinda mediocre and grindy, and some are just -tier (Catfighting Club? Who designed that piece of crap?). My only complaint is that stuff doesn't carry over to Legend difficulty (making you do all that shit again), otherwise I feel like the minigames with substance are still fine for a single playthrough or premium adventure.

The problem with this thesis is the idea that you should be playing JRPGs without speedhacks IMO.

Never play JRPGs without speedhacks to speed up travel/grind/random shit

Looks at console...