Yakuza: Of The End [PS3]

[JP]

Yep, they just can't stop making these games. So as well as the PSP exclusive Yakuza: New Chapter Black Panther there's another PS3 exclusive game which has been revealed in the latest edition of Famitsu with a new protagonist.

I can't go into detail right now on whether it's 'Yakuza 5' or not, but it is a new game with the Yakuza name, so I hope that encourages people's expectations. We'll release more information when the time comes -- we'll be able to show off the basic outline in full by this year's Tokyo Game Show.

We've had the idea of making (Goro) Majima the hero for a while now. I think we can tell the sort of story that only Majima and his incredibly unique personality can shine in. We're finally making that happen this time, and I think he's going to be even wilder than people are expecting.

It's about breaking things down, we won't change the three pillars that support Yakuza -- the drama, the adventure, and the fighting -- but we will reposition them as we try to come up with a new kind of game. I want to prove with this new title that Yakuza is still capable of a lot of things. We aren't going to abandon what made it fun, but I do intend to take a scalpel to the core gameplay.

[Team Andromeda]

Please get lost and retire Nagoshi-san . You complete arrogant twat

[Sketcz]

Please get lost and retire Nagoshi-san . You complete arrogant twat

Bit harsh, isn't it? The Yakuza games were awesome (I've only played up to 3), and Majima was probably my favourite character. The guy's as mad as a Japanese hatter.

Does the development of Yakuza in any way detract from other games you love? If he stopped making Yakuza games they wouldn't necessarily put the funding towards something else your taste.

[Team Andromeda]

Bit harsh, isn't it?
Does the development of Yakuza in any way detract from other games you love? If he stopped making Yakuza games they wouldn't necessarily put the funding towards something else your taste.

I'll just say. Yearly development times for a single team is a sure way to break any sort of innovation, kill the team, and see Top staff have enough and leave (which the likes of Ueda-san did after Kenzan) .

A yearly development time isn't enough time for a sports game, never mind a 30+RPG, with a deeply flawed and dated next gen engine. Team and series will go the way of SONIC, you can be sure of it.

[Sketcz]

Well, fair enough. On those points I'd agree with you 100% (I'm having enough trouble playing through them all at this rate!).

But isn't better to elaborate on your rage in the first reply?

I had assumed you hated the series and preferred if Sega made something else (an assumption also based on your username).

[saturn-gamer]

I do agree, there is no innovation to be found whatsoever. Yakuza 3 feels like a glorified Ps2 game, its actually worse than Yakuza 2 imo. And I enjoyed Kenzan more than Y3 too.

But I found Yakuza 3 to be fun still, and the demo of 4 felt good yet again. Its not like Sonic who'se games turned out to be downright awful. Sonic suffered from bad designer choices and a broken 3D foundation to begin with, Yakuza is just more of the same all the time.

So its safe to say that Yakuza 5 or whatever, will be a good and fun game despite its apparent complete lack of innovation.

[Team Andromeda]

Well, fair enough. On those points I'd agree with you 100% (I'm having enough trouble playing through them all at this rate!).

But isn't better to elaborate on your rage in the first reply?

I had assumed you hated the series and preferred if Sega made something else (an assumption also based on your username).

I love the PS2 Yakuza games, and Yaukuza II was also a tech demo on how to push the PS2 from SEGA. Kenzan was alight, but was a huge step backwards in terms of Tech and animations imo. Yakuza III is really nothing more than Yakuza II remade in HD, only with piss poor tech and animations , this after the likes of Kenzan costing over 25 million each to develop
The series is saved by its story and great scrpt , but that can only go on for so long, before one gets bored .


Makes me sick to see that Arrogant cock leads the team and command the budgets, while the likes of Masayoshi Kikuchi (the real star producer left at SOJ) gets the ****.
All That money on a game with no worldwide appeal and poor tech. Better if Ueda-san game was given the green light, and Kikuchi-san his own team , to make the World Wide game SOJ desperately needs to develop In-House.

SOJ are hopeless and clueless at the moment

[Guts]

So its safe to say that Yakuza 5 or whatever, will be a good and fun game despite its apparent complete lack of innovation.

"We aren't going to abandon what made it fun, but I do intend to take a scalpel to the core gameplay."

Also, bit early to judge don't ya think?

[nakamura]

Well I have just got into the series, I am looking for Yakuza 2 right now as I am at the end of the original. Looks like I will end up playing this in abot 10 years!

[Eight Rooks]

Also, bit early to judge don't ya think?

Eh, it's what he does. Blue-sky nonsense clinging to the past. It's not just the old Sega who are dead and buried, the entire industry's different.

Outdated tech? Sure. Relying on melodrama and flash to drag its target demographic in? Sure. Still brilliant fun? Damn straight. #4 and Kenzan are both streets ahead of #2, and just because Sega haven't worked out how best to use current-gen hardware doesn't change that.

[Team Andromeda]

Eh, it's what he does. Blue-sky nonsense clinging to the past. It's not just the old Sega who are dead and buried, the entire industry's different.

Outdated tech? Sure. Relying on melodrama and flash to drag its target demographic in? Sure. Still brilliant fun? Damn straight. #4 and Kenzan are both streets ahead of #2, and just because Sega haven't worked out how best to use current-gen hardware doesn't change that.

Blue skies ? Yeah Right . Yakuza III is nothing new, Yakuza IV is even worse, outdated tech , same old gameplay that has now been done to death . Kenzan belong in the dark ages, it's s outdated .
The Yakuza series hasn't gone forward at all, with the next geneatioin
While other RPG's push ahead not just in terms of telling a story, modelling a city, but also in motion and facial tech .

Also, bit early to judge don't ya think?

Is this coming from the one, that posted how he'll never buy Yakuza III because of reported cuts from the Internet ? . I do love a bit of Irony

[Phar]

SOJ are hopeless and clueless at the moment

They always have been tbh, I'll agree that they need a title with worldwide appeal, but Ryu Ga Gotoku is one of Sega's biggest titles so to scrap it for other projects which may flop is a big risk, it also brings in a few quid in product placement and retail products as well.

The series definitely has a chance to grow in the west though, I seriously thought #3 was going to flop hard after 1&2's poor sales but the extra publicity surrounding the cuts to #3 seems to have had the opposite effect and got people interested in the series as it's sold quite well, just need to see if #4 can repeat that and do better, it is a superior game than #3 so hopefully it will.

As far as the engine goes I don't mind it too much, I wouldn't say no to a 2year gap between games and an overhaul but the current one is solid enough, the only things that let it down for me are the pop-in of NPC's and the inconsistent textures, the attention to detail is up there with the best though, Akiyama's office in number #4 is pretty amazing.

Back on topic though, looking forward to what new direction they take it in if Nagoshi is to be believed, either way getting to be Majima in the next game has got me looking forward to it.

[Guts]

The Yakuza series hasn't gone forward at all, with the next geneatioin
While other RPG's push ahead not just in terms of telling a story, modelling a city, but also in motion and facial tech .

Which imaginary (J)RPG is that? The one that has a better story, better animation and better modelled open-world city/cities than Yakuza? I'd sure like to play it.

Is this coming from the one, that posted how he'll never buy Yakuza III because of reported cuts from the Internet ? . I do love a bit of Irony

Those cuts were confirmed by multiple sources by that point, not that it has anything to do with this matter.

Btw. why do you keep playing games (imported from Japan) that you obviously don't even care about?

[Team Andromeda]

Which imaginary (J)RPG is that? The one that has a better story, better animation and better modelled open-world city/cities than Yakuza? I'd sure like to play it.

Fatal mistake . The Japanese have gone backwards and offer nothing really new. While western developers push forward and move forward for RPG's and open world Gameplay . Compared to the likes of Fallout, Fable II, Mass Effect II the Japanese are just falling way behind .

Shenmue once lead the way in how to model a world, and characters. While the likes of GTA IV, Red Dead Rep , Heavy Rain push on ever more , The like of Yakuza just fall ever more behind. At least Eternal Sonata/ Eternal Sonata looked nice , had a nice battle system, and the likes of Val Chronicles had itr's own charm and looked utterly incredible.

Yakuza III just seems to me , to be Yakuza II in High Def , saved only by its story and strong set of characters.

Btw. why do you keep playing games (imported from Japan) that you obviously don't even care about?

Those choice Yakuza III comments all coming back now ?. Still missing out on Yakuza III in English , thanks to your little protest

I gave Kenzan and Yakuza III a chance, because they were new entries on the PS3 hardware . I was expecting and hopping for more, but came away disappointed. I didn't important, not shall I buy Yakuza IV . Sadly the demo (yes I know its only a demo) showed me it was more of the same , and I've just had enough of the same Yakuza

Ryu Ga Gotoku is one of Sega's biggest titles so to scrap it for other projects which may flop is a big risk, it also brings in a few quid in product placement and retail products as well

Needing to sell over 500,000 copies just to break even, isn't that great imo . Yakuza series may well have done wonders for SEGA Market share in the charts , for actual profits , I'm really not so sure .

The game needs to move forward and the Team given 2 to 3 years to make a game as big as that as Yakuza; A game that takes over 150 staff, and 25 million quid per title , really needs to be made Multi Platform and with the West in mind .
So to me , that means, time for the series take place somewhere in the west , start to model a new city
Start to use next gen shades (the water effects in Kenzan are piss poor) and physics , to make the world seem even more real and alive, and the Heat moves with even more impact and painful . Like having interactive environments

I wouldn't say no to a 2year gap between games and an overhaul but the current one is solid enough,

The team only have a year to make each new sequel , that is part of my issue.

direction they take it in if Nagoshi is to be believed

This is Nagoshi-san . The mean that meant to be working on a world wide hit for SEGA over 4 years ago, and no-one has seen it . Much like his other WW game, that he 1st talked about over 2 years ago .

The man talks **** , and his World Wide wonder game is nothing more, than a piss poor Power point presentation (yep no game) with the brief of 'What its like to be Human' .
Meanwhile SOJ pays the like of Platinum staff, to experiment and learn what its takes to make a WW game, and continue to improve and move forward While SEGA own Next Gen pipelines learn how to make yet another Yakuza. That's so going to help SEGA for this gen and beyond


Once SEGA used to give a dam good reason to go On-Line on consoles . The company that once did that, has just failed to embrace Online this generation(its just so depressing to see SOJ sink so low) .
Still there hope, from the Sonic Team (no really) Maybe Border Break will get a port too

[Guts]

Fatal mistake . The Japanese have gone backwards and offer nothing really new. While western developers push forward and move forward for RPG's and open world Gameplay . Compared to the likes of Fallout, Fable II, Mass Effect II the Japanese are just falling way behind .

Fable 2 has practically no story to speak of and a handful of characters with any personality.

Mass Effect 2, while being a great game, hasn't got any open-world elements like Yakuza series.

Fallout 3 had a huge, boring, empty sandbox with atrocious combat system and completely crap plot and writing, not to mention most unoriginal and uninteresting characters in any modern RPG. Also, the graphics (especially movement and facial animations) were ten-times worse than in Yakuza 3.

Those choice Yakuza III comments all coming back now ?. Still missing out on Yakuza III in English , thanks to your little protest

I honestly can't understand what this means. Who is missing out on Yakuza 3 thanks to my protest?

I gave Kenzan and Yakuza III a chance, because they were new entries on the PS3 hardware . I was expecting and hopping for more, but came away disappointed. I didn't important, not shall I buy Yakuza IV . Sadly the demo (yes I know its only a demo) showed me it was more of the same , and I've just had enough of the same Yakuza

So you haven't played Y4 (and you never will), yet claim it's worse than Y3. Okay.