Fun facts: Kiryu cannot drive the taxi if he is drunk. Shinada will not use baseball bats as weapons out of respect for the sport. He will just examine it and put it down if you pick one up. You also cannot play the Biker Club minigame in Lost Judgment if you're drunk. The game will just tell you to make better decisions.
Kind of like how you get told "This isn't a place for children." and booted out if you go to the gravure studio with Haruka in K2. Social sensibilities mixed with Yakuza madness is great.
It's why I love RGG studio. Sure,They've been known for reusing assets. But aside from that,These dude always put small details in their games,No matter what. Not just "Oh,We make games and that's it. No one gonna care for this detail anyway." No,They put small detailes to show some love in their games. Kiryu can't drive while drunk because if you do it irl,You will hit people and go to jail. Also,Driving while drunking also prohibited in Japan,Shinada love baseball so much so he can't stand the fact people use his favs sport tools to hit someone,Yagami used to be lawyer but now just a detective.So,It's makesense for him to know Japanese's laws so well to the point try not to break it(Except the fact he hit people and try to ran away from Police in Judgment LMAOOO.). Man,I really want games that put as much as effort in it these day like how RGG did...
@@اميركاظم-م2ز Yakuza Dead Souls and the rest of the spin offs, the samurai games, the mobile games, the gatcha, those weird psp games and maybe the judgement series but i think they deserve their own retrospective series
Playing through Like a Dragon currently and digging it. I hadn't got a chance to play Yakuza5 but i thoroughly appreciate these videos on the series man!
bro takasugi is the best character in the game. he goes from the villainous yakuza money lender hounding Shinada constantly to literally the only one Shinada can trust and actually the one who got Shinada's home run ball back in the day.
Obviously haven’t finished the video yet, but just want to say thank you for consistently doing these, each one has been so fun to watch. I love Yakuza so much, honestly don’t think there’s a single bad game in the entire series. They all range from good to great.
I honestly agreed. I may hate 5 for story but it is still solid game. I also don't recommend people to skipped it. Anyway,What's ur favs Yakuza games in series? Mine was Kiwami 2,6 and 4.
I see how you would think that. It gets me more angry then irl traffic though. It's terrible for my mental lol. Especially having to drive on the left side of the road.
It's garbage. Who tf plays video games to sit at a red light? That's an experience I have in real life every single day lol. And the mechanics are so janky, too. Add to that the pedestrians literally *running into your car* and I couldn't come up with a worse mini game if I tried. It's almost like it's a satire on the very concept of mini games
I know this one is divisive, but I personally adore this game. The plot can be a bit much (though significantly less convoluted than 4 imo) and the encounter rates are way too high, but the new environments are so nice, the combat feels way more polished than 4 and laid the foundation for the stellar combat in 0, Saejima's plot felt more purposeful, the Haruka plot was a real breath of fresh air, and Shinada is such a wonderful addition that every game would be better if he was simply present in one way or another. The next one though, that's the big one, hyped for the Yakuza 0 retrospective.
Though it needed just one thing in the remaster that would make it so much better. A previously on yakuza like in 0. I know it wasn't there in the original release, but let's face it. These remasters aren't exactly one to one
Great video, son. Concerning Akiyama, it's easy to forget he is the first character to start that theme of dream in Yakuza 4. In appearance, he is the one that seems to have it all together, money, friends, good business, the definition of everyone's general definition of a dream life, but that is not, in essence, what his dream is about. He was given a chance to rise up when he was a bum by happenstance thanks to Kiryu, and thanks to Kamurocho. Akiyama's dream is to allow people to do the same, to help them back up and get the best out of them, even if it means being a d*ck about it sometime. He wants to give back, hence why he decides to shoulder the dreams of others, and especially of Haruka, the daughter of the man who indirectly saved his life, and also why he says that "Maybe he'll be a legend as well".
Was always a bit let down that we never got to see Haruka and Majima meet again. Honestly been a bit curious as to how they'd interact seeing as the last time we've ever seen the two interact was when Majima kidnapped her in 1
Random info: Tatsuya is actually a real celebrity chef in Japan. I believe there are many more characters in the series that actually celebrity cameos.
What the hell, how is your output so prolific, the quality is insane and so is the production value, please don't burn out I really love your channel. I subscribed awhile ago and binged the DMC series, I thought about rewatching them because they're good longform content that can fill time while working and I couldn't believe how many more videos that you've made, it's just ridiculous. You really are doing TH-cam at a level that even well established and paid creators with a team of editors couldn't come close to matching. I'm a huge fan, please don't burn out, take time for yourself and don't go nuts, you're doing amazing. Edit: Not going to lie, over a week I went through your entire catalogue and I cannot believe how much you've made in a month and a half
Best Yakuza gameplay-wise. The story is kinda iffy and the Idol stuff isn't my cup of tea. Fun fact: Saejima's voice actor is the same for Mamoru Takamura from Hajime no Ippo, a really good boxing anime. Takamura also had to throw hands against a bear at a certain point of the anime.
One thing that I really like about the rematch between kiryu and saejima is that it also fits their irezumi. In Japanese folklore, The dragon and the tiger are often evenly matched.
i've seen a lot of complaints online about the writing for haruka in this game and 6. namely her decisions were dumb (confessing she was kiryu's adopted daughter ofc got a lot of media heat on her and likely the other 2 idol girls) and then she accidentally got pregnant in 6
You know what, in terms of a Yakuza game they really did a great job with this one. But all the Idol stuff? I'm seriously impressed, they went out of their way to put thought and effort into making a system that worked with interesting plot and themes around it (especially helping show just how hard the Idol scene really is). Props to them! Though...I always liked to think Kiryu would've taught Haruka how to fight, but I understand that wasn't where the story went for her character. (But could you imagine fighting as a adult Haruka with moves taught to her, like Tiger Drop and Komaki Counter, from Kiryu himself? I'd be down for it xD)
The other really annoying thing about the random encounters is when you are too strong, they'll literally start a fight with you and then just start fleeing the second the fight starts 😂
1:11:06 Also anything that used his arms in 4 like his grab attacks or his block were all changed to instead incorporate his legs to better suit his character.
People really want the remaster collection on the switch. But with 5 specifically, there is one major problem. The taxi mini game would be either impossible to play, or clunky with no analog triggers
*if this game was just about Kiryu and Haruka, it would be a favorite. i loved Haruka's dance battles and was so immersed in her path to be recognized as GOAT of dancing icons....ahhh what could have been.*
This is my favorite game in the series. Absolutely huge, clocking up to 120 hours for me to beat all of its content, but it was amazing. The variety and quality of content kept me going on this great experience.
My favorite game in the series right now, after playing from 0 to 6. Currently I'm playing Judgment and I have to finalize the next ones, but this Yakuza 5 really have a special place in my heart
>Yakuza throws away it's leash Kiryu: Fighting a damn army Saejima: Fighting a fucking demonically large bear in a BLIZZARD with your FISTS If Kiryu is throwing away the leash, Saejima is going......balls out. Also I agree on the Haruka/Akiyama story, it's a nice breather to see into Haruka's personality we don't normally see when she isn't with Kiryu, as she always has been, and it's really sweet seeing Akiyama doting on her and being her friend. Speaking of Akiyama I feel like he did have a dream fulfilled, but it's one you need to know his character in Yakuza 4 for, he wants to help others and have a part in making their success come true. He gave Park the money she slaved for at his tests and found out she was killed before it could happen. Now he wants to help Haruka fulfill that dream, it helps that she is the daughter of his friend Kiryu, but you can tell he wants a personal hand in helping her to her success, be it through money or kicking some ugly brute in the face. It's why he shares a chapter with Haruka, his dream is only to help another, and she is his charge. I also think 5 has some of the most incredible boss battles, from Saejima vs Majima to Kiryu vs Aizawa. Kiryu and Saejima is a pretty big theme too, the "Tiger vs the Dragon" being an eternal rivalry in mythology where one cannot overcome the other, here it's two legendary Yakuza evenly matched. Personally I like how they made sure that no matter who you pick, you cannot defeat the other.
Loved 5 all the things that happen in this story is insane saejima in the snow and fighting with that bear was amazing and the love story with majima and park was a suprise and combined good with haruka later on akiyama great as always and the story with shinada also nice something different with the baseball and the minigames was fun kiryu was great beginning till the end deffo one of my fav ones!❤️🙏
The Epic! Like, it feels like a true epic in scale and tone. While I have some niggles with the structure - I don't think Shinada should have been the last story before all the characters come together - I found it wholly satisfying, and the culmination of what Shenmue started so many years ago. I'd put this in my top five Yakuza games
Shinada was actually my favorite fighter besides Kiryu lol. You need to utilise the combo grabs to gain heat, and invest more in the weapons. Poles, nunchaku and knives are so good to use.
I enjoyed the video. Gentle note from dad: you used the word "scald" multiple times when the word "scold" was the one that matched the meaning you seemed to intend.
Regarding a physical release, at the time Sony refused to do physical releases overseas for any games without an english dub - same thing happened with Warriors Orochi 3
Thanks for these. With Gaiden coming out, I wanted to refresh myself on the games and this surely helped kick some nostalgia and hype in. I'm sure the amount of work is absolutely tremendous and it's greatly valued.
I Usually don't comment but I have been binging these recently and I have to thank you Son! And honestly the random encounters in this one were a pain and I hated having to walk past them to get anyway because ir was so slow!
I have a quibble with one of the things you said: Karaoke is not in the first two Yakuza games. But also there were more than four games to feature karaoke before Yakuza 5. It was introduced in 3, and returned for 4, Kurohyou, Dead Souls, and Kurohyou 2. So Yakuza 5 was actually the sixth game to have karaoke. Also, while Haruka's dance game showed an improvement on the studio's rhythm mechanics, it still had the same karaoke system as 3, 4, and Dead Souls, and thus still had the same problems. Interestingly, the Kurohyou games both had different systems. In Kurohyou 1 you simply mashed ○ to fill up a gauge. Kurohyou 2 had a similar timing system as I've seen later in Yakuza 0's disco minigame and other Japanese rhythm games, and while I haven't played it, visually it's easier to follow along. Yakuza 6 would be the first to improve on the original karaoke system with and it has been reused in Kiwami 2 and Like A Dragon (7). Unfortunately, it seems the remake of Ishin reverted to the original style just like the original Ishin.
I really can't say why, but next to kiryu and majima, I absolutely love daigo. I think it may be because I started with Yakuza 0 and doing that side quest with young daigo. He was a bratty kid who was full of himself cause his father's position, but he looked up to kiryu and was taught humility by hanging out with kiryu. Then meeting him in kiwami 2 and seeing how things turned out with him was a shock. He eventually becomes the chairman and is respected, he came a long way from that child he was and I really like that for some reason.
Small correction: The reason Kiryu needs to apologise to Tenjin Taxis is actually because Daigo took a taxi from the middle of the parked queue of taxis, rather than taking the one in the front (which was a Tenjin Taxi) which would essentially be stealing potential fares out of Tenjin's pocket.
Half a block away, you stepped 3 feet!? The funny part is I've played this and I felt it was too much but it still only just hit me watching this video. Also I love your videos man, thanks for the effort.
Thank you so much for this. I actually just stopped playing Yakuza 5 out of sheer and utter boredom. Got to the halfway point for Haruka, when one of my favorite characters shows up, and after that, was it for me. I am moving onto 6 and watching this instead Don’t get me wrong, I love games that take hours, like Witcher 3 or Red Dead 1 and 2, but the pacing in this game is so off, I just can’t even bother to finish it anymore. I really enjoyed Kiryu’s section, but everything after that has felt like a slog.
it has been a while since I played but I do remember a couple side stories during the parts with Akiyama where he despite his constant smoking agrees to do some dance battles
They basically become unofficial brothers through the course of the series. They just never took the oath since kiyru left the clan and lifestyle. But it was basically implied they considered each other brothers whe kiyru asks majima to look after diago and the clan.
This has quickly become not only my favorite Japanese series but also my favorite open world series. I know its not fully open world but pretty much. Most AAA developers arent putting out games of this quality consistently. And we've been getting like 2 or 3 rgg bangers every year or so. Hell this year we get ishin kiwami style. Then Yakuza 8 & Gaiden next year
Hey you can avoid the random enemy encounters you complained about if you press down the right bumper to walk instead of run before you get to close to them. Then you just walk past them until you're in the clear then run away from em
this is my second favorite Yakuza game! (used to be the first, but then Y7 came around lol) I admit, the game was pretty long plus the story was kind of convoluted, but I loved Haruka’s story so much since I’m a big fan of rhythm game and instantly fell in love with Shinada because of his personality. Not to mention this had the best final boss imo, the atmosphere and his theme were so phenomenal. Never in my life I cried so hard while beating the hell out of the final boss
I wish the image of the persons name you say popped up when you are discussing the story it’s so hard to know who is who and what is what with all these names
Akiyama gotbwhat he didnt realize he wanted. Respect respect from the yakuza who have always hounded him. He stood his ground and gought for the good of everyone, and they bowed to him for his true honor and service
Just finished the game, I loved and completed every character job-quests except the baseball one, I was enjoying it but ad that point I just had to progress with the story and see where it led. Love the game, noooow time to start my first run of Yakuza 0.
Son if you enjoyed the winter hunting and survival game play of that one sub story, then you should play The Long Dark. It's a wonderful survival game where you have to scrounge for supplies and live off the land as best that you can.
I didn't hate Shinada's fighting style, though I did suffer the lack of money until I went to the cabaret on a lucky day. Though Baba was too easy with my police baton.
I started with like a dragon and judgment and lost judgment went back and played the first one beat 4 recently 100 percent almost I love the sub stories so much I these games they really teach you about the character and world sometimes teach you a lesson or just weird lmao but awesome review almost done with 5 can’t wait for premium adventure in 5
One things that keeps bothering me throughout this video is that Hiruka wanting to become an idol comes out of nowhere (aside - maybe from a quick scene in one of the previous games where Kiriyu tells her: "Look, you can be an idol!", but she rejects it). Granted I'm only discovering this games through your retrospective so maybe this confusion comes from you omtting some scenes to focus on important bits of the story; or from me missing said scenes, but it seems more like Kiriyu *thinks* that Hiruka wants to be an idol as this is something on the opposite end of being a yakuza (at least according to him... he doesn't seem to be aware of the overall toxicity of the industry). Or maybe it's part of the overall theme of dreams you talked about in the finale when we are supposed to think that this is her dream, but in the end it's really not. Either way I found it jarring.
kinda wondering how you can go through the games and hear the characters say the names properly and then butcher most of them anyway in such a spectacular fashion. Some of these don't make sense even if you think of it as reading the names with english pronunciation, like calling Mirei Park "Mirai".
I’m glad you pointed out the karaoke problems in the previous games… Yakuza 3 was the worst, but I’ve loved and enjoyed them so much that they geared me up for Haruka’s gameplay. One of the great things about the idol singing and dancing sections is how the the button prompts flow downward, allowing the player to somewhat observe Haruka’s performance instead of fixing the view in the left bottom corner.
Fun facts: Kiryu cannot drive the taxi if he is drunk. Shinada will not use baseball bats as weapons out of respect for the sport. He will just examine it and put it down if you pick one up.
You also cannot play the Biker Club minigame in Lost Judgment if you're drunk. The game will just tell you to make better decisions.
assaults sure extortion sure gambling absolutely but drunk driving BE BETTER SCUM
Kind of like how you get told "This isn't a place for children." and booted out if you go to the gravure studio with Haruka in K2. Social sensibilities mixed with Yakuza madness is great.
It's why I love RGG studio. Sure,They've been known for reusing assets. But aside from that,These dude always put small details in their games,No matter what. Not just "Oh,We make games and that's it. No one gonna care for this detail anyway." No,They put small detailes to show some love in their games.
Kiryu can't drive while drunk because if you do it irl,You will hit people and go to jail. Also,Driving while drunking also prohibited in Japan,Shinada love baseball so much so he can't stand the fact people use his favs sport tools to hit someone,Yagami used to be lawyer but now just a detective.So,It's makesense for him to know Japanese's laws so well to the point try not to break it(Except the fact he hit people and try to ran away from Police in Judgment LMAOOO.).
Man,I really want games that put as much as effort in it these day like how RGG did...
@@AdamOwenBrowning That would have been funny though.
I was wondering what the hell was going on! I tried to pick up a bat with Shinada and he kept setting it down lol
How did you feel about Yakuza 5 Dad? 🍱
EDIT: there is an egregious audio error near the last third of the video and I apologize
Hey Son. Please Cover Yakuza Dead Souls🙏🏻
You will have to remove one of your fingers
@@اميركاظم-م2ز Yakuza Dead Souls and the rest of the spin offs, the samurai games, the mobile games, the gatcha, those weird psp games and maybe the judgement series but i think they deserve their own retrospective series
Playing through Like a Dragon currently and digging it. I hadn't got a chance to play Yakuza5 but i thoroughly appreciate these videos on the series man!
bro takasugi is the best character in the game. he goes from the villainous yakuza money lender hounding Shinada constantly to literally the only one Shinada can trust and actually the one who got Shinada's home run ball back in the day.
This guy gets it
He was pretty cool
Obviously haven’t finished the video yet, but just want to say thank you for consistently doing these, each one has been so fun to watch. I love Yakuza so much, honestly don’t think there’s a single bad game in the entire series. They all range from good to great.
I honestly agreed. I may hate 5 for story but it is still solid game. I also don't recommend people to skipped it.
Anyway,What's ur favs Yakuza games in series?
Mine was Kiwami 2,6 and 4.
@@lizdevilz7271 2, 4 and 6 would definitely be at the top for me. I’ll also throw in 0.
Completely disagree with your opinion on the taxi minigame. I found it relaxing, slowly driving around while still having to listen to the passengers
I see how you would think that. It gets me more angry then irl traffic though. It's terrible for my mental lol. Especially having to drive on the left side of the road.
Loved the taxi missions. Finished everyone lol
I unlocked it and immediately finished it
personally I found it boring so I guess it wasn't for someone like me but I enjoyed Saejima's story the most out of the other characters
It's garbage. Who tf plays video games to sit at a red light? That's an experience I have in real life every single day lol. And the mechanics are so janky, too. Add to that the pedestrians literally *running into your car* and I couldn't come up with a worse mini game if I tried. It's almost like it's a satire on the very concept of mini games
I know this one is divisive, but I personally adore this game. The plot can be a bit much (though significantly less convoluted than 4 imo) and the encounter rates are way too high, but the new environments are so nice, the combat feels way more polished than 4 and laid the foundation for the stellar combat in 0, Saejima's plot felt more purposeful, the Haruka plot was a real breath of fresh air, and Shinada is such a wonderful addition that every game would be better if he was simply present in one way or another.
The next one though, that's the big one, hyped for the Yakuza 0 retrospective.
Though it needed just one thing in the remaster that would make it so much better. A previously on yakuza like in 0. I know it wasn't there in the original release, but let's face it. These remasters aren't exactly one to one
That F-bomb out of nowhere at 33:05 was legendary, love a well timed curse.
Take a shot every time you hear "Yume".
Spoilers: You'll get wasted before the end of Kiryu's story.
Spoiler; you’ll die of alcohol poisoning halfway through haruka’s part
Your liver is THANOS snapped by the end of haruka
HOW DID YOU MAKE THESE THIS FAST KID?!
...Proud of you.
Great video, son. Concerning Akiyama, it's easy to forget he is the first character to start that theme of dream in Yakuza 4. In appearance, he is the one that seems to have it all together, money, friends, good business, the definition of everyone's general definition of a dream life, but that is not, in essence, what his dream is about. He was given a chance to rise up when he was a bum by happenstance thanks to Kiryu, and thanks to Kamurocho. Akiyama's dream is to allow people to do the same, to help them back up and get the best out of them, even if it means being a d*ck about it sometime. He wants to give back, hence why he decides to shoulder the dreams of others, and especially of Haruka, the daughter of the man who indirectly saved his life, and also why he says that "Maybe he'll be a legend as well".
One of my favorite games in the franchise. So much content and the combat feels so smooth.
Turned my rainy sick day into something enjoyable. So glad for another yakuza retrospective!
Was always a bit let down that we never got to see Haruka and Majima meet again. Honestly been a bit curious as to how they'd interact seeing as the last time we've ever seen the two interact was when Majima kidnapped her in 1
i'm sure we'll see it happen in a future game
maybe Gaiden or 8
@@FuraFaoloxwomp womp
Random info: Tatsuya is actually a real celebrity chef in Japan. I believe there are many more characters in the series that actually celebrity cameos.
Most notably is some of the hostesses during the series, like Ai Uehara in Yakuza 0
Like all the porn stars
What the hell, how is your output so prolific, the quality is insane and so is the production value, please don't burn out I really love your channel. I subscribed awhile ago and binged the DMC series, I thought about rewatching them because they're good longform content that can fill time while working and I couldn't believe how many more videos that you've made, it's just ridiculous. You really are doing TH-cam at a level that even well established and paid creators with a team of editors couldn't come close to matching. I'm a huge fan, please don't burn out, take time for yourself and don't go nuts, you're doing amazing.
Edit: Not going to lie, over a week I went through your entire catalogue and I cannot believe how much you've made in a month and a half
Ironic that the fourth chairman of the Tojo clan has probably beat down on more Tojo men in his life than any other organization
Best Yakuza gameplay-wise. The story is kinda iffy and the Idol stuff isn't my cup of tea.
Fun fact: Saejima's voice actor is the same for Mamoru Takamura from Hajime no Ippo, a really good boxing anime. Takamura also had to throw hands against a bear at a certain point of the anime.
One thing that I really like about the rematch between kiryu and saejima is that it also fits their irezumi. In Japanese folklore, The dragon and the tiger are often evenly matched.
i've seen a lot of complaints online about the writing for haruka in this game and 6. namely her decisions were dumb (confessing she was kiryu's adopted daughter ofc got a lot of media heat on her and likely the other 2 idol girls) and then she accidentally got pregnant in 6
OMG you've released three Yakuza retrospectives in one month. When do you film these??
You know what, in terms of a Yakuza game they really did a great job with this one. But all the Idol stuff? I'm seriously impressed, they went out of their way to put thought and effort into making a system that worked with interesting plot and themes around it (especially helping show just how hard the Idol scene really is). Props to them!
Though...I always liked to think Kiryu would've taught Haruka how to fight, but I understand that wasn't where the story went for her character.
(But could you imagine fighting as a adult Haruka with moves taught to her, like Tiger Drop and Komaki Counter, from Kiryu himself? I'd be down for it xD)
The other really annoying thing about the random encounters is when you are too strong, they'll literally start a fight with you and then just start fleeing the second the fight starts 😂
I hope we see Akiyama and Shinada again those two would be besties with Ichiban for that matter Kaito and Yagami too
Akiyama and ichiban are childhood Friends in rgg online
@@pocketcircuitfighter6291 but is that even canonical?
@@PopeTheRevXXVIII no but a lot of y7 is based on that
@@pocketcircuitfighter6291 heh I have a lot say about both 6 and 7 too
@@PopeTheRevXXVIII what
1:11:06 Also anything that used his arms in 4 like his grab attacks or his block were all changed to instead incorporate his legs to better suit his character.
People really want the remaster collection on the switch. But with 5 specifically, there is one major problem. The taxi mini game would be either impossible to play, or clunky with no analog triggers
*if this game was just about Kiryu and Haruka, it would be a favorite. i loved Haruka's dance battles and was so immersed in her path to be recognized as GOAT of dancing icons....ahhh what could have been.*
I'm amazed at the consistency of the quality of thoses videos ! Eager to see the rest !
I binge watched all your Yakuza vids when i was sick and going through some shitty times. Your vids helped so much top get through it.
I cant be the only one who absolutely fell in love with Shinada's fighting style because of how fluid it is once you get into the ins and outs of it
This is my favorite game in the series. Absolutely huge, clocking up to 120 hours for me to beat all of its content, but it was amazing. The variety and quality of content kept me going on this great experience.
Aizawa be like: one of the best boss fights against probably the most irrelevant villain in the series
My favorite game in the series right now, after playing from 0 to 6. Currently I'm playing Judgment and I have to finalize the next ones, but this Yakuza 5 really have a special place in my heart
>Yakuza throws away it's leash
Kiryu: Fighting a damn army
Saejima: Fighting a fucking demonically large bear in a BLIZZARD with your FISTS
If Kiryu is throwing away the leash, Saejima is going......balls out.
Also I agree on the Haruka/Akiyama story, it's a nice breather to see into Haruka's personality we don't normally see when she isn't with Kiryu, as she always has been, and it's really sweet seeing Akiyama doting on her and being her friend.
Speaking of Akiyama I feel like he did have a dream fulfilled, but it's one you need to know his character in Yakuza 4 for, he wants to help others and have a part in making their success come true. He gave Park the money she slaved for at his tests and found out she was killed before it could happen. Now he wants to help Haruka fulfill that dream, it helps that she is the daughter of his friend Kiryu, but you can tell he wants a personal hand in helping her to her success, be it through money or kicking some ugly brute in the face. It's why he shares a chapter with Haruka, his dream is only to help another, and she is his charge.
I also think 5 has some of the most incredible boss battles, from Saejima vs Majima to Kiryu vs Aizawa. Kiryu and Saejima is a pretty big theme too, the "Tiger vs the Dragon" being an eternal rivalry in mythology where one cannot overcome the other, here it's two legendary Yakuza evenly matched. Personally I like how they made sure that no matter who you pick, you cannot defeat the other.
Hey son thanks for the video one small correction though Kiryu's first name is spelt Kazuma not Kazama
The one thing I will always remember about 5, is how I failed the last QTE with Aizawa and had to replay the whole fight.
How in the name of everything that is sacred are you able to produce these videos at such a rate. An excellent video
40k subs in one year. well deserved, great retrospective of great games. Wish you the best in your life and on youtube
Mother, the boy is on his Yakuza shit again.
What is with this weird paternal fetish?
For the combat peeps;
Kiryu: 11:05
Saejima: 41:07
Haruka?: 1:01:28
Akiyama: 1:11:05
Shinada: 1:22:50
My son: "kept you waiting, huh"
Loved 5 all the things that happen in this story is insane saejima in the snow and fighting with that bear was amazing and the love story with majima and park was a suprise and combined good with haruka later on akiyama great as always and the story with shinada also nice something different with the baseball and the minigames was fun kiryu was great beginning till the end deffo one of my fav ones!❤️🙏
The Epic! Like, it feels like a true epic in scale and tone. While I have some niggles with the structure - I don't think Shinada should have been the last story before all the characters come together - I found it wholly satisfying, and the culmination of what Shenmue started so many years ago. I'd put this in my top five Yakuza games
Shinada was actually my favorite fighter besides Kiryu lol. You need to utilise the combo grabs to gain heat, and invest more in the weapons. Poles, nunchaku and knives are so good to use.
I enjoyed the video. Gentle note from dad: you used the word "scald" multiple times when the word "scold" was the one that matched the meaning you seemed to intend.
Quality like this is why you're my favourite son 🥰
Cranking these out like a factory
Regarding a physical release, at the time Sony refused to do physical releases overseas for any games without an english dub - same thing happened with Warriors Orochi 3
Thanks for these. With Gaiden coming out, I wanted to refresh myself on the games and this surely helped kick some nostalgia and hype in. I'm sure the amount of work is absolutely tremendous and it's greatly valued.
I Usually don't comment but I have been binging these recently and I have to thank you Son! And honestly the random encounters in this one were a pain and I hated having to walk past them to get anyway because ir was so slow!
I have a quibble with one of the things you said:
Karaoke is not in the first two Yakuza games. But also there were more than four games to feature karaoke before Yakuza 5. It was introduced in 3, and returned for 4, Kurohyou, Dead Souls, and Kurohyou 2. So Yakuza 5 was actually the sixth game to have karaoke. Also, while Haruka's dance game showed an improvement on the studio's rhythm mechanics, it still had the same karaoke system as 3, 4, and Dead Souls, and thus still had the same problems. Interestingly, the Kurohyou games both had different systems. In Kurohyou 1 you simply mashed ○ to fill up a gauge. Kurohyou 2 had a similar timing system as I've seen later in Yakuza 0's disco minigame and other Japanese rhythm games, and while I haven't played it, visually it's easier to follow along. Yakuza 6 would be the first to improve on the original karaoke system with and it has been reused in Kiwami 2 and Like A Dragon (7). Unfortunately, it seems the remake of Ishin reverted to the original style just like the original Ishin.
I really can't say why, but next to kiryu and majima, I absolutely love daigo. I think it may be because I started with Yakuza 0 and doing that side quest with young daigo. He was a bratty kid who was full of himself cause his father's position, but he looked up to kiryu and was taught humility by hanging out with kiryu. Then meeting him in kiwami 2 and seeing how things turned out with him was a shock. He eventually becomes the chairman and is respected, he came a long way from that child he was and I really like that for some reason.
I remember you can avoid random encounters by walk pass by slowly instead of running
20:36 This feels so much more crushing having finished Gaiden.
Small correction: The reason Kiryu needs to apologise to Tenjin Taxis is actually because Daigo took a taxi from the middle of the parked queue of taxis, rather than taking the one in the front (which was a Tenjin Taxi) which would essentially be stealing potential fares out of Tenjin's pocket.
It's really weird that Ogita is the instructor with a cameo in Zero.
how is that weird
I still can't believe how much I spent on just the hunting game alone for that damn substory
Half a block away, you stepped 3 feet!? The funny part is I've played this and I felt it was too much but it still only just hit me watching this video. Also I love your videos man, thanks for the effort.
You can press R1/RB to walk and avoid the random encounters that way. It's slower and it isn't ideal, but it's an option.
Thank you so much for this. I actually just stopped playing Yakuza 5 out of sheer and utter boredom. Got to the halfway point for Haruka, when one of my favorite characters shows up, and after that, was it for me. I am moving onto 6 and watching this instead
Don’t get me wrong, I love games that take hours, like Witcher 3 or Red Dead 1 and 2, but the pacing in this game is so off, I just can’t even bother to finish it anymore.
I really enjoyed Kiryu’s section, but everything after that has felt like a slog.
I think my favourite song in Yakuza 5 is Baba's theme - I Believe In You
"Kiryu finally has a girlfriend... ooooohh"
I laughed way harder at this than I should have. 😂
it has been a while since I played but I do remember a couple side stories during the parts with Akiyama where he despite his constant smoking agrees to do some dance battles
son, ive been enjoyijg your content for a while now - now i have covid and this behemoth of a video is a true life saver! proud of you!
Hey Son, again is it possible to request you do videos on the Siren or Dishonored series please?
1 small note, which I’ll edit later once I finish the vid: Majima is not Kiryu’s brother, he’s Saejima’s.
They basically become unofficial brothers through the course of the series. They just never took the oath since kiyru left the clan and lifestyle. But it was basically implied they considered each other brothers whe kiyru asks majima to look after diago and the clan.
I appreciate how you specify youre talking about USD all the time instead of just saying dollars
Awww yeah, we'll be having eggs, sonny side up.
This has quickly become not only my favorite Japanese series but also my favorite open world series. I know its not fully open world but pretty much. Most AAA developers arent putting out games of this quality consistently. And we've been getting like 2 or 3 rgg bangers every year or so. Hell this year we get ishin kiwami style. Then Yakuza 8 & Gaiden next year
Saejima's chapters were a drag to me. Gladly the rest is engaging and great
amazing video, keep doing what you do. 5 was sensational
Rly ought to dive back into this huge game. No major videgame releases I'm interested in at least 'till November so I've got no excuse now.
Hey you can avoid the random enemy encounters you complained about if you press down the right bumper to walk instead of run before you get to close to them. Then you just walk past them until you're in the clear then run away from em
this is my second favorite Yakuza game! (used to be the first, but then Y7 came around lol) I admit, the game was pretty long plus the story was kind of convoluted, but I loved Haruka’s story so much since I’m a big fan of rhythm game and instantly fell in love with Shinada because of his personality. Not to mention this had the best final boss imo, the atmosphere and his theme were so phenomenal. Never in my life I cried so hard while beating the hell out of the final boss
This is what I’ve been waiting for.
I wish the image of the persons name you say popped up when you are discussing the story it’s so hard to know who is who and what is what with all these names
bro all of haruka's songs slap. I haven't played that game in 7 years but i still put on Joy To The Dance all the time.
Akiyama gotbwhat he didnt realize he wanted. Respect respect from the yakuza who have always hounded him. He stood his ground and gought for the good of everyone, and they bowed to him for his true honor and service
"Cheese the fight with weapons" bro oplease! He's the weapons guy. He's the baseball bat guy 🙏
Just finished the game, I loved and completed every character job-quests except the baseball one, I was enjoying it but ad that point I just had to progress with the story and see where it led. Love the game, noooow time to start my first run of Yakuza 0.
Great job, son. I'm proud of you.
Son if you enjoyed the winter hunting and survival game play of that one sub story, then you should play The Long Dark. It's a wonderful survival game where you have to scrounge for supplies and live off the land as best that you can.
i only want to play yakuza 0, kiwami 1, 6 and gaiden so thank god for your channel thank you so much
58:29 haruka getting sturdy
Tatsuya is not just based in the chef, it’s literally him, he is a cameo guest character
I didn't hate Shinada's fighting style, though I did suffer the lack of money until I went to the cabaret on a lucky day. Though Baba was too easy with my police baton.
Son, you'll work on the spin-off ? like the samuraï one or the apocalypse ?
I started with like a dragon and judgment and lost judgment went back and played the first one beat 4 recently 100 percent almost I love the sub stories so much I these games they really teach you about the character and world sometimes teach you a lesson or just weird lmao but awesome review almost done with 5 can’t wait for premium adventure in 5
Honestly, the grabbing didn't bother me as much cause it let me see the grabbing counters + the heat actions that I barely saw in the other games.
Hey son, it's me your favourite Dad
Hunting the bear in snowy mountain sidestory reminds me of anime called Silver Fan I watched as a kid
One things that keeps bothering me throughout this video is that Hiruka wanting to become an idol comes out of nowhere (aside - maybe from a quick scene in one of the previous games where Kiriyu tells her: "Look, you can be an idol!", but she rejects it).
Granted I'm only discovering this games through your retrospective so maybe this confusion comes from you omtting some scenes to focus on important bits of the story; or from me missing said scenes, but it seems more like Kiriyu *thinks* that Hiruka wants to be an idol as this is something on the opposite end of being a yakuza (at least according to him... he doesn't seem to be aware of the overall toxicity of the industry). Or maybe it's part of the overall theme of dreams you talked about in the finale when we are supposed to think that this is her dream, but in the end it's really not.
Either way I found it jarring.
I personally had no issue with random encounters
Could be lucky or just enjoy random fights more than others
kinda wondering how you can go through the games and hear the characters say the names properly and then butcher most of them anyway in such a spectacular fashion.
Some of these don't make sense even if you think of it as reading the names with english pronunciation, like calling Mirei Park "Mirai".
My favorite part of the game is half way through when it turns into Red Dead Yakuza 2
Besides Haruka, Shinada was the only character I didn't reach max level with by the end of the game
These videos are great, Son, keep it up. 👍
Hey Son great analysis!
Great game but does anyone know what happened to Tanimura lore wise and why he doesn’t appear again?
They mention in Yakuza 5 that he must've ran away or something, but a lot of characters just end up disappearing in the Yakuza series.
Finishing off my last day of work strong 💪 thanks son
I’m glad you pointed out the karaoke problems in the previous games… Yakuza 3 was the worst, but I’ve loved and enjoyed them so much that they geared me up for Haruka’s gameplay.
One of the great things about the idol singing and dancing sections is how the the button prompts flow downward, allowing the player to somewhat observe Haruka’s performance instead of fixing the view in the left bottom corner.