It baffles me that the Yakuza series have not had greater success as I think they are absolutely awesome. Granted, they are a bit slow-paced in spots, but overall they feel like real proper video games! Maybe it's because they are Japanese?

I hope Yakuza 5 gets enough traction to inspire SEGA or Sony to localize Yakuza 0, because it looks super awesome.

Anyway, SEGA has put up a video about the game's new battle system where they characters have different stances they can switch between. Since it takes place in the 80's, Goro Majima has a breakdance style that is super fresh!

Skip a minute or two in to get to the action!

Why is money flying out of people everytime you hit them.

Anime.

Yes, Anime.

Also, people didn't have Paypal back then and were more inclined to carry around cash money.

Do want. That white suit is giving off some serious Tony Montana vibes. Also, can someone clarify just how many Yakuza games have not been released outside of Japan? There's this one; set in the 80s, Yakuza 5; after 4 obviously, and Yakuza Isshin; in the 19th century. Is that right?

@baka_shinji17 There's Yakuza Ishin and Kenzan which both are 19th century yes. The one on PS4 had some pretty cool battle mechanics as well where you'd use a sword and a revolver.

Then there's also PSP one, which, you know, isn't that big a loss.

I remember when Yakuza came out all the kids thought it was a rip-off of GTA so they stuck to Vice City and San Andreas. After having played Yakuza I wonder where that bull shit started because they are two completely different things.

@sethphotopoulos SEGA kinda brought it on too by marketing it as "GTA in Japan with Mark Hamill" as well. They then went and spend their money on marketing more Sonic games and then failed to understand why they weren't making the profit they had hoped on the future Yakuza games.

I think they could get success with Yakuza 0 by marketing it as "The spiritual successor to Shenmue" (as it is) and then let internet hype and nostalgia from various live streamers and Let's Players pave the way for success of the game.

I have no doubt that this will get localized eventually because it's status as a prequel could draw in new fans over here.

I just hope none of the trophies involve hostesses, shoji, mahjong or pachinko. These games are super fun to platinum but man fuck those minigames. It was still a mistake to cut them entirely from the US version of 3 though.

@corevi I was giving pachinko another go in Yakuza 4 the other day and I still don't understand how it works... Speaking of mini-games, they got real arcade games in Yakuza 0. Since it takes place in the 80's, you can play Outrun, Hang-On, Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone in the arcade. I'd be okay with troph-dawgs for those games!

@darkbeatdk: I got the pachinko trophy in 4 by using 2 Get Rich Quick cards (which requires 2 playthroughs, Underground Locker F4).

That sounds amazing. I know Virtua Fighter 2 and Taiko no Tatsujin are minigames in Yakuza 5 but I'd much rather play Fantasy Zone than either of those.

@darkbeatdk: This just reminds me more and more that Yakuza is kind of what Shenmue became right? A more structured beat-em up version for sure but It's like it's DNA lived on in it's odd tone and really detailed recreation of a specific area. Setting it in the 80's makes it stand out that much more.

Man the Neon colouring for the heat gauge, the soundtrack. I'd honestly rather have this than five if I had to choose, hopefully five will make enough cash to convince them to translate this too.

@wampa1: Absolutely. It's not just fighting and stuff. You can walk around and absorb the Japanese culture and look at incredibly detailed scans of BOSS Coffee cans. That this one is set in the 80's makes it more exciting in a way, since it'll probably be a faithful recreation of a past time... I'll wait and see what SEGA does, but I'm almost tempted to import the game, just to soak up environments in it, even though I don't speak a lick of Japanese.

I really like that this one has pulled the number of protagonists down to just two Also, playable Majima in something that isn't that horrendous Dead Souls has me excited, too. One of my problems with Yakuza 4 was that with four protagonists, I felt there wasn't enough story to give each and every one their due -- specifically Akiyama. So hearing Yakuza 5 has... 5 protagonists is kind of crazy. I'm still intrigued and will get Yakuza 5 day-1, though what I'm really hoping is the obvious interest in 5 will lead to Yakuza 0 getting localised down the line, too. I've kinda given up hope on the ones set in 1500s Japan or whatever ever getting an official English translation.

Yakuza is industry leading in its voice acting.

Merry Christmas!

It ain't no Christmas without talking on the phone with girls and underground all-female wrestling complete with Bill Conti inspired music... apparently!

This video showcases some of the more humorous aspects that are typical for the Yakuza games.

They seem to have gone crazier. I like i . I hope it comes over but I'll bet yakuza 5's sales will decide that.

Jesus, a whole almost-20 minutes dedicated to the pervy side of Yakuza...

@yummylee: The wrestling stuff seems kind of fun and over the top, and if it has the Monster Rancher elements from Saejima's fighter training thing in 4 that could be interesting. The rest is kind of embarrassing but what are you gonna do? It's part of why the series is popular in Japan and when they cut it out of the western version of 3 people hated it. If you want to avoid that stuff completely you can.

@eingya: Maybe... I like Shenmue a lot, but you fought so little in it that you sorta ended up forgetting how.

I did at least...

It's time to make some crazy money!

Money was never a huge deal in the Yakuza games, but now it seems like the skill system has changed, meaning that you now buy your upgrades with cold, hard yen.

What better incentive to get into the many mini-games and earn some dosh? Kiryu can buy and manage property, while Majima makes a living off managing his hostess club.

Enjoy this video featuring a producer that stole @drewbert's hair while he was in Japan and another guy giving out 000000 yen notes (because it *is* Yakuza 0)

just watched a stream of some chinese twitch guy playing this game http://www.twitch.tv/underground_dv/v/5833420 . it seems incredible. i want it in english!

i downloaded the demo of this off Japanese PSN. i shouldnt have. now im like twisted up with anxiety that ill never get to play the full thing.

i wish this series would just be successful over here. it blows my mind that almost every Dynasty Warriors game makes it out in English but we gotta agonize over Yakuza the way we do. it aint fair.

Old news by now, but:

IT'S HAPPENING!!!

If you liked Yakuza 5 as much as I did, then check out the gameplay further up in this thread!

Honestly I feel like I'd rather just wait for Yakuza 0 than play Yakuza 5. They're so alike anyway, and I'd much rather play one of 'em on my PS4.

I don't know why, but 80s Yakuza just sounds like the coolest thing (also Yakuza with samurai). I tried playing the Chinese version of Yakuza 0 but since my Chinese isn't very good, I'm left to interpret a lot of the story from just a few words every sentence. Since the English version was announced, KHH Subs basically stopped all work on it I'll be left in the dark after Chapter 2. Good thing the guide for Ishin is finished so at least I could play that for now.

I wonder if this has any chance of coming to the pc?

Started playing Yakusa 5 after watching the quicklook and am liking it quite a bit, but man those ps3 graphics are hard to look at... I'm glad this will be coming to ps3 anyway though because then at least I'll have a chance to play it, since there's no way I'm getting a ps4.

Of course the ideal thing would be if sega started putting all their stuff on PC...

@probablytuna said:

Isn't way of the samurai pretty much Yakusa with samurai?

@onarum: I guess so, but Ishin is playable on PS4.

I always wanted to get into this series, I tried Yakuza 4 (I think anyway) and enjoyed it. But the pacing ended up being a real issue, plus I felt like I was missing out on the story because it felt like there was a lot of connections to the older games.

@onarum: While there is a PS3 version of Yakuza 0, I'm afraid it is staying in Japan. Only the PS4 version is coming out in the west.

4 was my first as well, but I didn't feel it was that hard to follow the story. The three first parts focused on characters that were new to the franchise after all. In any case the game included recap movies of the previous games you could watch (in your hideout IIRC.)

@blacklagoon: well. fuck....

Guess I'm no playing it then.

That whole prison section was everything wrong with the pacing of Asian drama. Holy crackers that went on for a while!

Still, once you get through these kinds of sections, the pay-off feels super rewarding. I guess that's the draw of a lot of Japanese RPGs too... They go so slow that the highs feel that much higher.

At least it led to the nuts prison escape. I'm in Act 3 at the minute. Its unintentionally hilarious. Getting a sandwich as a reward for a handshake event and the game referring to your apartment as a hideout. Great.

Eventhough i'm still playing Yakuza 5 (just got to Tsukimono), i'm so gonna buy Yakuza 0 if it gets released anytime soon.

Actually, I wish they would.

@turambar: the game is set in a period (1988) when japan economy was booming so money overload