View Full Version : Yakuza 2
jedimind7
09-10-2008, 03:56 AM
Sorry if theres a thread already about this... didnt see one.
I believe this game dropped yesterday. Has anyone played this yet? I plan on purchasing it on Friday. Just wanted to get anyones thoughts on the game.
josekortez
09-10-2008, 04:09 AM
Damn it, you beat me to starting this thread.
I pre-ordered the game from Gamestop (something I haven't done in a long while since it's a racket to help Gamestop employees keep their jobs), only because I don't think this one will be flooding the shelves like the last one.
According to the article in Play magazine a month ago, the game isn't that much different than the last one because it was a quickly made sequel, but since I enjoyed the first one from start to finish, I had to own it on the first day.
Apparently in this one, you can play mahjong and be romanced by paying ladies as a host yourself. I didn't do all the side quests in the last one, but I think I might this time around.
I'll be reviewing it for next week's edition of the magazine I work for locally, and I'm pretty excited about it...
According to the article in Play magazine a month ago, the game isn't that much different than the last one because it was a quickly made sequel, but since I enjoyed the first one from start to finish, I had to own it on the first day.
I've read a few previews and reviews that the gameplay was improved and a lot of the problems with the original game have been fixed. The transition between fights is a lot faster now, unlike the first one where you'd see VS screen before each fight.
I didn't get the game at my store and figured maybe I was wrong about the release date, which sucks because I was just at the mall last night and would've made more of an effort to stop at EB Games to get the game.
My copy shipped today from Gamefly, can't wait to play it.
djbeatmongrel
09-10-2008, 03:10 PM
I just picked up my copy. I'll give a little early game analysis later today.
It's out? Cool! I loved the first one. Sort of like a stripped down, ass-kicking Shenmue LOL.
Neil Koch
09-10-2008, 06:10 PM
The first one reminded me more of a gussied-up version of River City Ransom. I liked the basic idea and gameplay, but the load times killed me. I got about halfway through it before I couldn't take them anymore.
If the sequel improves on the load times, I'll have to give it a shot eventually, but my game backlog is so big right now I can't see myself getting it in the near future.
djbeatmongrel
09-10-2008, 09:30 PM
i just played through the first chapter, its damn good. if you like the first yakuza you'll like this one. The load times between fights is faster fyi.
time to play some more.
roushimsx
09-13-2008, 01:47 PM
Up to the fourth chapter right now. It's so fucking awesome it makes me sad to know that so many people are going to miss out on it. It's very much everything that everyone ever wanted from Shenmue but never got and it proves that while Sega as a whole might be pretty fucked up, there's pockets of awesomeness throughout the company that still understand how to make innovative and fun games.
The load times are a hell of a lot better; I played the first game via HDLoader and still find the load times to be a bit annoying, but they seem to have been sliced at least in half. Having the entire game on a single disc instead of the 2 disc Japanese release is really nice, too.
Combat system has been expanded, there's a lot more random interactivity to find (check out the arcade and play YF2 by MA2!), and it just reeks of maximum fucking quality on every level. Let's hope it sells well enough to convince Sega to bring over Yakuza 3 and possibly even Kenzan (which they'd pretty much have to bring over to help recoup their development costs).
Thank god they didn't go for the star studded american voice actor cast this time around, too. The subtitles work great for the game, though if they ever take a trip to the US or Canada, I'd love to see Mark Hamill return.
Absolute steal for $30.
edit - oh, and I forgot to mention: the game works awesome with HDLoader, so as short as the load times are, they're lightning fast off of the hard drive.
jedimind7
09-13-2008, 04:13 PM
I went to Gamestop yesterday with the intent to purchase. I had $40 on me. I decided to check out the Gamecube games and saw Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and since i've been wanting/looking for that game forever I had to pick that up. I'll get Yakuza 2 sometime next week.
Good to see your enjoying the game roushimsx. I saw that IGN gave it an 8.5 and most people that have played seem to like it.
roushimsx
09-13-2008, 04:24 PM
Good to see your enjoying the game roushimsx. I saw that IGN gave it an 8.5 and most people that have played seem to like it.
No doubt, if anyone enjoyed the first one at all then they'll love the second.
Cryomancer
09-13-2008, 04:59 PM
Are the Don Qijoite stores still in this one? Do they still play the music?
roushimsx
09-13-2008, 05:45 PM
Are the Don Qijoite stores still in this one? Do they still play the music?
Yes they are and yes they do :)
Here's me after just walking into one:
http://images.roushimsx.com/TV2008091316350100.jpg
edit - and here's some of the items you can buy:
http://images.roushimsx.com/TV2008091316353000.jpg
I picked it up the other day when I was at the mall, but since I haven't beaten the first one yet, it'll probably be sitting on the backburner for awhile
roushimsx
09-13-2008, 06:59 PM
I picked it up the other day when I was at the mall, but since I haven't beaten the first one yet, it'll probably be sitting on the backburner for awhile
If you get antsy, there's an option at the beginning of Yakuza 2 to watch a recap of the events of the first game. It's pretty well done, but yea, it doesn't quite compare to actually playing through it. The entire end battle segment in particular is incredibly cinematic.
OldSchoolGamer
09-13-2008, 10:40 PM
Wow those graphics look pretty damn nice for PS2! I loved SHENMUE so I definitely got to get this!
roushimsx
09-13-2008, 11:46 PM
Wow those graphics look pretty damn nice for PS2!
Yea, it really looks more like an Xbox game than anything with the crowd density, environment detail and the insanely detailed character faces. There's some crowd fading in and out but it's not even remotely as blatant or distracting as it was in Shenmue.
Been snapping a ton of shots as I've been playing..going to have to crop and resize them all later in one big batch. Manually doing each one would be a damn pain.
You can golf!:
http://images.roushimsx.com/yakuza2/TV2008091311202900.jpg
Oh shit, Silent Hill:
http://images.roushimsx.com/yakuza2/TV2008091321030400.jpg
Walking the streets at night:
http://images.roushimsx.com/yakuza2/TV2008091321514600.jpg
Heading towards the batting ranges:
http://images.roushimsx.com/yakuza2/TV2008091322161800.jpg
Knuckle Sandwich:
http://images.roushimsx.com/yakuza2/TV2008091312074800.jpg
otaku
09-14-2008, 08:48 PM
finally! Now I just need to go buy that ps3 I've been holding off on (60gig) so I can get this and a few others. :)
djbeatmongrel
09-15-2008, 02:06 AM
finally! Now I just need to go buy that ps3 I've been holding off on (60gig) so I can get this and a few others. :)
you know its for ps2 right?
anyways, i beat the game today, its amazing. that is all
Iroquois Pliskin
09-15-2008, 02:25 AM
you know its for ps2 right?
anyways, i beat the game today, its amazing. that is all
lol otaku had an epic fail. i think i'm going to get this on thursday i have the first one and love it.
Lothars
09-15-2008, 11:11 AM
lol otaku had an epic fail. i think i'm going to get this on thursday i have the first one and love it.
Not Necessarily, maybe he is buying a PS3 for backwards compatibility but I dunno, It just might be something that pushed him over the top.
Iroquois Pliskin
09-15-2008, 11:16 AM
Not Necessarily, maybe he is buying a PS3 for backwards compatibility but I dunno, It just might be something that pushed him over the top.
thanks for raining on my parade :(
josekortez
09-15-2008, 09:33 PM
SPOILER ALERT!
If you already beat the first Yakuza and start a new Yakuza 2 game with the same memory card inserted, you get 50,000 yen as a bonus!
Maybe I won't have to go through so many random battles with various thugs to make money now...
roushimsx
09-15-2008, 09:50 PM
9 chapters in and money hasn't really been an issue at all yet. I'm sitting on at least 100k that I've never touched and that includes a few trips to the hostess bars, buying health drinks and getting a massage (twice!). Spent 25k playing majhong before I realized that it doesn't terribly interest me, so I went back to playing YF6 and UFO Catcher.
My luck on slots has been shit, too :(
josekortez
09-15-2008, 10:10 PM
9 chapters in and money hasn't really been an issue at all yet. I'm sitting on at least 100k that I've never touched and that includes a few trips to the hostess bars, buying health drinks and getting a massage (twice!). Spent 25k playing majhong before I realized that it doesn't terribly interest me, so I went back to playing YF6 and UFO Catcher.
My luck on slots has been shit, too :(
Yeah, money was my biggest complaint with the original Yakuza game, even moreso than the loading times. I collected most of the weapons hidden in the lockers, but I couldn't figure out what I needed to sell so I could buy more health drinks. By the time I noticed I had completed the game, I was still stuck with all those extra weapons and I couldn't figure out what the point of having all that stuff was.
And I'm actually looking forward to playing mahjong in a localized game with English instructions for once.
I just finished the game now, and WOW, was it amazing. Ten times better than the first one, IMO. Not that Yakuza was a bad game, it's just that this one was such a quality title. The only issue I had with it was the camera. At times it was a pain in the ass, especially during close-quarters fighting indoors, but other than that the game was excellent. Definitely one of the best stories in any PS2 game I've played, maybe in any game ever. My completion time was 18:41, for those of you who are interested.
josekortez
09-16-2008, 10:15 PM
My completion time was 18:41, for those of you who are interested.
I'm just curious to find out if you did all the sidequests and mini-games to get that time. I didn't unlock every single thing in the original game because I got tired of looking for small sparkles on the ground that were supposed to represent the locker keys.
I'm just curious to find out if you did all the sidequests and mini-games to get that time. I didn't unlock every single thing in the original game because I got tired of looking for small sparkles on the ground that were supposed to represent the locker keys.
Didn't do all of them, no. I found roughly half of the locker keys, but didn't go out of my way to search for them or anything. I did some sidequests, though I focused primarily on the main story because it was so damn compelling that I had to see what happened next.
Aussie2B
03-18-2009, 12:02 AM
It's so fucking awesome it makes me sad to know that so many people are going to miss out on it. ... it just reeks of maximum fucking quality on every level. Let's hope it sells well enough to convince Sega to bring over Yakuza 3 and possibly even Kenzan (which they'd pretty much have to bring over to help recoup their development costs).
That about sums up everything I want to say here.
Yeah, I know I'm bumping up this topic around 6 months after its release, but I don't think I've ever felt so compelled to promote a game. I only just recently bought it myself, on a whim since Amazon was doing a $15 lightning deal, but I actually feel guilty that I didn't pick it up at launch and give Sega the full MSRP, as they truly deserve every penny (especially considering it was budget-priced to begin with).
I usually consider a game's plot as a nice little bonus at best, but this is one game where the story alone is enough to make the experience remarkable. I doubt it had the budget of something like Metal Gear Solid 3, but they could've fooled me as the production values are just through the roof. The design and development of the characters, the script (and its localization), the direction, the voice acting, and the beautiful subtly of all of the above results in one of the most captivating gaming experiences I've ever had. I've never played the original (and after experiencing Yakuza 2 in Japanese, I almost don't want to as I can't imagine anyone on earth could be a better Kiryu than Takaya Kuroda) and I hear it has its issues (which are also supposedly remedied in Yakuza 2), but, seriously, anyone would be a fool to pass up on this gem for the paltry sum of $20 on Amazon or elsewhere. If this series ever catches on in America as it truly should (it doesn't help that several publications didn't "get" the series at all and ended up only talking about it on terms "lol those Japanese are wacky" acting like you gotta be some "weaboo" to enjoy them which is certainly not the case, nor did Sega's pathetic marketing help, confusing people into to thinking it's just like Shenmue or Grand Theft Auto when it's its own beast), I guarantee that prices will rise on this one someday, especially if the print run was as conservative as it appears to have been.
But most importantly, everybody needs to buy Yakuza 2 if they haven't already because Yakuza 3, which looks amazing (and is amazing according to importers and the Japanese populace), isn't looking so good in terms of getting a US release. Yakuza 2 wasn't either, and we're damn lucky that Sega brought it out anyway, despite the long delay.
So yeah, I'll end my gushing and my pitchman spiel by saying: I don't care if you're male, female, straight, or gay, you WILL want to have sex with Kiryu by the time you beat the game. He's THAT fucking awesome of a video game lead. :)