Yakuza: Like a Dragon

[Ne0]

Hmmm, I've not really played that many jrpgs.  Have played ff13, but didn't complete it ! 

[roun90]

2 hours ago, Mr. Comingle said:

30 minute boss fights are rather tame in the realm of JRPGs. Some of the later boss fights in Persona easily took upwards of 1 hour and that's supposed to be one of the more user friendly JRPGs. 

 

Which Boss Fights took 1 hour+ in P5? I don't think any boss took 1 hour. Just a couple of minutes, if you specced right. Palaces themselves took 4-5 hours, yes - but all the game bosses could be finished off pretty quickly if you played the mechanics properly

 

1 hour ago, Ne0 said:

Hmmm, I've not really played that many jrpgs.  Have played ff13, but didn't complete it ! 

 

For FF, I don't think there are a lot of bosses that take a long time. Most should be done in some minutes. The longest AFAIK is the Adamantoise from FF15

 

 

Which is said to take some 15 hours if you are unprepared lol

[Sach4life]

I think the actual last boss fight of P5R definitely goes for 20-25 mins at the very least

[Ethan_Hunt]

Gentlemen! It seems like much has happened since I last asked my query about this game and the viability of a relative newbie to JRPG completing this game. Here we are today:

 

 

Not only does this mark my first game on the Xbox with all achievements, but also my very first Yakuza game with all achievements. Truth be told, I wasn't aiming for it and couldn't have been bothered, but as I prepped my way towards the end-game, I noticed there just a handful remaining, so decided to check them off and finally got the "big one" last night. 

 

As for the game itself, I'll be honest, it's no Yakuza 0, but that's OK. This game has it own identity and the new cast cemented themselves as a loveable bunch of ragtags. For the veterans, who spent way too much time with Kiryu saga, it would feel a bit odd to have someone new assume that role. Thankfully, Ichiban turned out to be a great protagonist. I'd say he's the polar opposite of Kiryu in terms of personality, but still sharing the same core values. The storyline itself was very engaging from the start and I love how the progression kept adding more characters naturally to build your group. I was sort of let down with part of the ending being slightly dragged along, but other than that, I thought it was really good. 

 

I feel like this game did a fantastic job of introducing the absolute new players to the series. It gave a fresh start while retaining story elements from the past games, really nice sub-stories, concentrated mini-games, the latest game engine for highest visual fidelity, 3 difference locations, English voice dub, JRPG combat etc. This is really good to pull people in and hook them onto the series to potentially explore more of the past games. No wonder it's quite popular on the steam boards (and elsewhere). 

 

For me, it somehow felt like I was playing through Yakuza 0 again as it seemed to have shared of lot of similar themes (and even characters being brought over). Being a newbie to the combat genre, that was the only skepticism I had for approaching this game. Thankfully, a lot of your wise tips and constantly reading up on the mechanics set me up for having a great time with it. I'm glad they chose Yokohama as the core location, as it shared 3 cultural sections within it (Japanese, Chinese & Korean). Not to mention Dragon engine's spectacular visual quality brought it to life in it's fully glory. I never felt like exploring anything at day. If you want to experience any of these games, I'd say night time is always where it shines the most, literally. Be it Kamurocho's neon lit environment or Sotenbori's blissfully vibrant nightlife. This is a game I truly feel like would shine with RayTracing. 

 

Anyway, throughout my journey, I explored a lot, sang Karaoke till I crashed, picked random battles, hit the hostess clubs, played darts, hit the baseball arena for longer than expected and even decided to harvest some plants. This is just part of what I got hooked into. I didn't even talk about the business management mini-game, the sleep inducing cinema, random (but hilarious) party chat/table talk conversations with the crew, the Dragon Kart mini-game. I mean it felt like never ending bunch of things that were possible. Having your fully party in place, it just feels like you're just there to chill out with them and have fun. 

 

 From a combat shift perspective, I feel like if a half-a-brain person like me can do it, then anyone can. Not talking about the trophy/achievement stuff, but just completing the game in general. It does have slight grindy parts, but not too much unless you just plan to rush through everything, which I wouldn't advise. Just relax, learn the gameplay formula, level up the party, just mess around and find out the enemy weakness and exploit them to your advantage. The job system gave a good amount of versatility to the combat, but I feel there were way too many options and some didn't feel quite necessary (Musician, Hostess, Barmaid etc.). I'm surprised this game didn't have an easy mode and had a penalty for dying (reducing money to half). My brother left this game on chapter 7 as he always plays on Easy and is not into grinding. Suffice to say, he was relying on me to use my save file for NG+.  

 

Visually, the game was f*ckin' gorgeous. Glad I played it on the Series X and good to see native Dragon engine current generation titles being optimized this way. For once, I felt like I experienced Sotenbori in it's full glory, instead of a jaggy quality 30fps game (Kiwami 2) and now experiencing it in 1440p 60 frames was heavenly. Same goes for Yokohama, the city's lighting and world design was absolutely amazing. Did I mention the load times were almost non-existent? I couldn't believe how much load times were involved in Kiwami 2 on the previous generation; it was crazy. Every transition in this game felt very natural and snappy. I'm assuming Judgement games would have the same flow. Can't wait to explore those games. But yeah, I feel like RGG have really hit their mark with this engine in terms of achieving great visual fidelity, but I do wish they fix the awkward ragdoll combat physics. 

 

I'll end this here before I go into major spoiler territory and leave you all a memento of my True Final Millennium Tower victory and the hours it took to grind for it was insane. I do admit I went over-board with the leveling, but f*ck it, I enjoyed it. So yeah, those on the fence with this game, grab it. The hero edition was on sale for 1.6K I think (Xbox), if not, GamePass pretty much gave this away for a year and it's still there. Play it before they pull it off. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hazard12345]

 

[hazard12345]

 

[hazard12345]

Ok, so just started this one, struggling with the turn based combat system a bit so far. Like how do i shield after i have attacked as i don't see the  4 options, just getting slashed and punched.

 

Any online guides or advice ?

[KnackChap]

no need to shield or defend unless some very specific boss battles. just go full steam attack. 

[hazard12345]

5 minutes ago, KnackChap said:

no need to shield or defend unless some very specific boss battles. just go full steam attack. 

I can't, once you use a skill or a normal X attack, the enemies get a chance to attack. And i just can't defend any of their attack.

 

What is the point of the guard option, if i can't use it after i have used the attack option.

 

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

33 minutes ago, hazard12345 said:

Ok, so just started this one, struggling with the turn based combat system a bit so far. Like how do i shield after i have attacked as i don't see the  4 options, just getting slashed and punched.

 

Any online guides or advice ?

 

If you mean block, then it's 'B' on Xbox and 'O' on Playstation to block an attack. Your timing needs to be precise to ensure it's a perfect block (just before an enemy lands an attack). Spamming the button won't help. You'll need to go full offense in the beginning to ensure you wipe out the enemies before they get you. Only get into combat with enemies that are on your level or below you. Earn some cash and buy a few weapons from the weapon shops. Use your magic attacks. Look for an icon on the map which has a heart icon, Your HP & MP can be fully replenished out there. Are you at the start of the game right now?

[hazard12345]

1 minute ago, Ethan_Hunt said:

 

If you mean block, then it's 'B' on Xbox and 'O' on Playstation to block an attack. Your timing needs to be precise to ensure it's a perfect block (just before an enemy lands an attack). Spamming the button won't help. You'll need to go full offense in the beginning to ensure you wipe out the enemies before they get you. Only get into combat with enemies that are on your level or below you. Earn some cash and buy a few weapons from the weapon shops. Use your magic attacks. Look for an icon on the map which has a heart icon, Your HP & MP can be fully replenished out there. Are you at the start of the game right now?

Yup, chapter 2. My main struggle is blocking enemy shots after i have used a normal attack or skill. Because then they get a chance to attack which i cannot defend using guard  "O" as it is not there.  

[Ethan_Hunt]

25 minutes ago, hazard12345 said:

Yup, chapter 2. My main struggle is blocking enemy shots after i have used a normal attack or skill. Because then they get a chance to attack which i cannot defend using guard  "O" as it is not there.  

 

So let's take it step-by-step. There is a regular 'Guard' which can only be done when it's your turn to perform an action (attack/guard/skill/Etc). You can perform that by holding down 'O' and it would execute that action as your turn and move onto the enemy and the next enemy that hits you, it perform the regular guard. A perfect guard can be performed at any point, but requires pin-point accuracy in your timing. Like I said, you'll need to hit 'O' just when the attack is about to connect. If you execute this correctly, you'll get a armour like symbol saying 'Perfect Guard'. Try it out a few times. 

 

Here's a video:

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Ethan_Hunt

[hazard12345]

 

Was listening to this for a while on spotify, but after starting the game today the feels were different.

[hazard12345]

Getting a hand of the combat and perfect blocks now, but the main story is very, very slow. I get it, it is a new beginning in the like a dragon universe, but STILL.

 

Also any insight into when to use the magical powers of each character, how do I know the opponent's weakness ? @Ethan_Hunt

Edited November 5, 2022 by hazard12345

[Ethan_Hunt]

10 minutes ago, hazard12345 said:

Getting a hand of the combat and perfect blocks now, but the main story is very, very slow. I get it, it is a new beginning in the like a dragon universe, but STILL.

 

Also any insight into when to use the magical powers of each character, how do I know the opponent's weakness ? @Ethan_Hunt

 

The story starts off a bit slow but will pick up as more characters come in. Might I suggest trying out some sub-stories? If you haven't already. 

 

Use your magic attacks whenever you feel like it. During my playthrough, I just experimented and went all out to see how much damage each attack would do. You can do this with the general mobs in the area to get a feel of the attacks. This will also allow you to see which enemies are weak to what attack. 

 

To know elemental and general enemy weakness, you'll need to gain access to Sujidex. It's an app on your phone which you'll get in chapter 4. Once you get hold of it, any enemy that you defeat should register in that app showing their full stats and enemy weakness. 

 

If you need a handy guide for all the enemies, just use this one:

 

https://samurai-gamers.com/yakuza-like-a-dragon/all-sujimon-locations/

 

Just run their name (appears during the fight) to find their weakness. Be careful as it lists the names of all the enemies and some might be a spoiler.

[hazard12345]

9 minutes ago, Ethan_Hunt said:

 

The story starts off a bit slow but will pick up as more characters come in. Might I suggest trying out some sub-stories? If you haven't already. 

 

Thanks, I have that app now. It was a weird side mission that, like typical yakuza .

 

I have been mixing side mission a lot because of the pace of the main story, and oh man, Yokohama is HUGE.

 

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

1 minute ago, hazard12345 said:

Thanks, I have that app now. It was a weird side mission that, like typical yakuza .

 

I have been mixing side mission a lot because of the pace of the main story, and oh man, Yokohama is HUGE.

 

 

Yep everything gets introduced in your typical Yakuza style side missions. You get randomly dragged away and end up wondering what are we now getting ourselves into. 

 

Yokohama is an amazing location and they have carved out the map perfectly. Way better than Kamurocho IMO. Just a handy tip, make sure you unlock all the taxi stands to get instant fast travel from your phone directly. In this game, you can directly access fast travel for the taxi icons that you have discovered on the map. Will cost extra if you're doing that though from the phone, but totally worth it later on once you are swimming in cash. 

 

[hazard12345]

Chapter 6 underground mission was so horrible, but the story is now starting.

[ΨΨ babloos ΨΨ]

For me second best Yakuza games after zero.

[hazard12345]

I hope the 2 type of cut scenes stop with yakuza 8.

 

Full screen cut scenes are so emotionally and visually immersive. 

 

The other one makes it look like a side mission conversation.

 

Characters mechanically moving their heads to say their dialogues just kills the immersion.

Edited November 9, 2022 by hazard12345