Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

[Flawless]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

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[Tha_Kid]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

So...

what about Yakuza 4?

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[DickDalewood]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

Great, another game I'm gonna have to get...

[Flawless]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

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[jsg]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

i've been playing through the first game for the past few weeks now. i've been trying to track down the 2nd one at gamestops in my area with no luck. i might have to amazon it. cant wait for the 3rd one to come out

[Flawless]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

Eurogamer Hands-On

Except that, for the first few hours, before the action leans back towards the Tokyo streets the series is famous for, it is an orphanage management game. And it is, by and large, a pretty great one. Kazuma, decked out in a Hawaiian shirt and some truly ill-considered white slacks, spends his days chopping onions for dinner, lecturing the children on the meaning of family and the basics of good manners (you might want to take notes - his stuff on conflict resolution is particularly good). Only occasionally does he head off into the nearby city to smash people around the head with bicycles.

SEGA's establishing a delicate pace with these opening scenes - somewhat more insistent than the studious plod of the Persona games, perhaps - and there's a real sense of a slice of life, albeit a fairly saccharine one, being expertly shaped for the world of videogames.

In between local rumblings of violent wrongdoings in town, you really will have to get into the rhythm of the kids' days, helping them out with poignant childhood problems like stolen money, bullying, and whether or not to beat a stray dog (do it, naturally), and it's strangely addictive stuff. One quest has so much backtracking in the space of two minutes that it's almost a parody of the form, but for the most part Yakuza 3 keeps you on your toes, and proves itself as comfortable with domestic duties as it is with the brawling.

it's still brilliant at the brawling though, and once the game returns to a more familiar pace you're left to enjoy the old-school pleasures of punching, kicking and kneeing people into shop windows. The lock-on might be wobbly and combos may start off in a fairly simplistic manner, but there's plenty of opportunity for showboating as street crowds gather to cheer you on, strikes connect with a screen-shaking intensity, and blood splatters all over the sidewalk.

At heart, these are random battles - even if in Yakuza 3 you don't even have to dip into a separate instance anymore - but they feel like events in a way random battles rarely do. They're rowdy, brutal and stylish: once you start levelling up and unlocking different heat actions, you can pull off some truly horrific finishers, and even before that there's a unique delight to be found in shattering a restaurant menu hording over somebody's shoulders while, nearby, a granny gives you a thumbs-up.

And when the story finally gets cooking, it unfolds with the low-key style of the first two games. The framing of cut-scenes is understated but cool, the threat of nasty violence hangs in the air at every moment, and everyone you meet is either a badass or a pathetic snivelling fraud about to get shown up for pretending to be a badass.

With its ebb and flow of dialogue, exploration and punching people in the nuts, three games in, the central premise of Yakuza still seems like such a good idea. An RPG with a modern setting, and a nice brawler wedged in the middle: decent characters, a dizzying plot, and endless mini-game distractions.

It remains a Japanophile's dream, too. Just wandering around Kazuma's orphanage with its sliding doors, tatami mats and odd light fixtures, and a kitchen filled with brightly-coloured plastic utensils, feels like the best kind of cultural nosing around, while the bright banners and shuttered storefronts of downtown Okinawa and Tokyo convey a sense of place every bit as exciting as Hyrule.

And, ultimately, we're lucky to be getting it, given the generally limp sales of the original games. The days of big-name voice-overs may be gone, and the next-gen polish may be limited to nice skin textures and subtle animation tweaks, but Yakuza 3 still feels like an event release. It's not going to trouble Final Fantasy XIII too much in the sales stakes, but as a serious RPG that blazes its own trail, it's likely to acquit itself with honour - on and off the links.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal



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[mrprice33]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

demos out...anybody get a chance to play it yet?

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

demos out...anybody get a chance to play it yet?

I got to play for about 45 minutes. I really like it. Hand to Hand combat is really smooth. I will definitely be picking it up. Looks phenomenal too.

EDIT: This game is really fun. It's a combo of Streets of Rage and GTA from what I have played so far.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

I got to play for about 45 minutes. I really like it. Hand to Hand combat is really smooth. I will definitely be picking it up. Looks phenomenal too.

EDIT: This game is really fun. It's a combo of Streets of Rage and GTA from what I have played so far.

I tried this last night. If you are a fan of the original or sequel, it is pretty much the same game in HD. I just wish that there was more cutscenes than scrolling text, I guess we have been spoiled. I will get this for sure when the price drops.......the next 3 weeks as a PS3 owner is going to be brutal between Heavy Rain, The Show, and GOW3. Wish I could get this and FFXIII, but they will have to wait.

[Admiral50]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

There are quite a few more regular cutscenes in the full game than the demo shows.

I'm glad you guys like it. Having played it when it first came out, I loved it but was worried the rest of the world would have lost enthusiasm with the long wait.

I have 4 pre-ordered for a March release in Japan now

[Flawless]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

IGN: Hands-on - The First Seven Chapters

Yakuza 3 won't be for everyone, and that's a damn shame. Yes, it's going to turn some Americans off that there's no English voice track, that the game was released in Japan some time ago so the graphics aren't exactly cutting edge, and that lots of stuff goes down in text boxes so you'll have to read and click through to advance, but the gamers that stick around are going to be treated to a compelling story, ridiculous dialogue, and some cool characters.

I was expecting this over-the-top violence, but I was caught off guard by Yakuza's meticulous storytelling. When the game starts there's a ton of cutscenes setting up the shootings and there's a whole bunch of names and references dropped on you. If you haven't played this series before, it can be a bit overwhelming, but via the main menu and an early graveyard, you can watch intricately detailed recaps of the last two games. Still, beyond all of that, Yakuza 3 spends a lot of time letting you play as Kaz at the orphanage -- setting up your now normal day-to-day life so that you care about your kids. You need to solve arguments, take care of a boy being bullied, and make the occasional dinner. As a fan of a great story, it's definitely awesome to see the juxtaposition of this trained killer beating in heads one second and comforting the boys and girls he's the legal guardian of. It gives his actions the proper motivations.

I'm only a few hours into Yakuza 3 -- which puts my completion percent as at a mere 1.21 -- but it seems like there's an insane amount of stuff to do and see. I've golfed, played pool, sung karaoke, thrown darts, fished, played baseball with my kids, and so on. Never mind the side missions where I was finding lost children and helping old ladies take their medicine. Never mind when I went into a restaurant, was seated, ordered drinks, and ate food. Never mind going to a local bar and sampling a selection of real world whiskeys such as Jack Daniels and getting little blasts of info about the booze I had chosen. Never mind the people who then fought me on the street for being drunk.

It's rather ridiculous all the stuff that's going on in this game.

I'm definitely digging my first few hours with Yakuza 3 and can't wait to play the whole thing, but I'm concerned about what the general gamer is going to think of the title. I love that there's no English voice track, but that means people are going to have to read a lot of subtitles and actively remember and comprehend what they're reading to understand who people are and what their relationships are. It might sound easy, but I was breezing through the beginning of the game and somehow missed that I was now playing a flashback, so spots of confusion can crop up if you're not paying close attention. Still, after a fair while, you should be able to get a grip and get into what's happening like I have; it'll just be interesting to see how many people give it the time to get that pacing down.

[Vast]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

There are quite a few more regular cutscenes in the full game than the demo shows.

I'm glad you guys like it. Having played it when it first came out, I loved it but was worried the rest of the world would have lost enthusiasm with the long wait.

I have 4 pre-ordered for a March release in Japan now

Fluent in Japanese i see??

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

There are quite a few more regular cutscenes in the full game than the demo shows.

I'm glad you guys like it. Having played it when it first came out, I loved it but was worried the rest of the world would have lost enthusiasm with the long wait.

I have 4 pre-ordered for a March release in Japan now

The first 2 games were excellent, so I am guessing that this one is just as good if not better. I am glad that it is releasing in the U.S. I just wish that Sega would have waited a few weeks to release this. It won't sell so well with The Show, GOW3, and FF13 right in the same release window.

[Flawless]

Re: Yakuza 3 looks *bleeping* phenomenal

The first 2 games were excellent, so I am guessing that this one is just as good if not better. I am glad that it is releasing in the U.S. I just wish that Sega would have waited a few weeks to release this. It won't sell so well with The Show, GOW3, and FF13 right in the same release window.

It really wouldn't have made a difference either way. It will sell it's 100K or so like the previous two games. It's very niche in the U.S.