Yakuza 2

[jedimind7]

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]

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...

[exit]

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.

[Sudo]

My copy shipped today from Gamefly, can't wait to play it.

[djbeatmongrel]

I just picked up my copy. I'll give a little early game analysis later today.

[jdc]

It's out? Cool! I loved the first one. Sort of like a stripped down, ass-kicking Shenmue .

[Neil Koch]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Are the Don Qijoite stores still in this one? Do they still play the music?

[roushimsx]

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:


edit - and here's some of the items you can buy:

[exit]

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]

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]

Wow those graphics look pretty damn nice for PS2! I loved SHENMUE so I definitely got to get this!

[roushimsx]

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!:


Oh shit, Silent Hill:


Walking the streets at night:


Heading towards the batting ranges:


Knuckle Sandwich:

[otaku]

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]

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]

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.