Video Game General 6.3: Sekiro has so many damn chickens man. Chickens Everywhere!

So I beat Yakuza Kiwami and, as I was warned, it is inferior to Yakuza 0 in every way. I was particularly disappointed in the Majima Everywhere aspect, which was way too grindy for the relatively short main story content that is in the game. What is even more bizarre is that they put story blocks in progressing through Majima Everywhere. It’s as if the devs didn’t want you to max out on Dragon Style before beating the game: instead doing so during New Game+. However, considering that you need essence of extreme dragon to do the Kiwami move on the last bosses belies that hypothesis.

Majima Everywhere and the Kiwami system just wasn’t implemented in a way that fits with the rest fo the game.

Anyway, I just resigned to plow through the story mode and call it a day. Now I have beaten Yakuza 0, Kiwami, 3, and 4. My friend has advised that I play Kiwami 2 next, but I’ve been thinking about playing Yakuza 6 instead (as for Yakuza 5, my PS3 is in the states so I can’t play it) because 1. I can get it cheaper and 2. It’s not as good as Kiwami 2, so I can save the best for last. What do you think?

In the meantime (since I refuse to play Yakuza games back-to- back), I’m playing Sonic Mania Plus. It’s really amazing how as soon as I start playing, it’s as if all my experience playing the old genesis games are flooding back to me. I’ve been playing that special mode that is like the one in Sonic 2/3 and Knuckles, and I’m blowing threw them just like I did when I was a kid. In fact, many seem like condensed versions of the ones from the original.

As for the music, so far it’s pretty good. I can’t say the remixed originals are an improvement, but they’re good. But, I don’t like any of the boss music at all. And this is surprising: the boss music from Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles have a very similar style: a strong start, then a gradually escalating menacing theme crescendo-ing to an epic, thunderous peak. I don’t think it’s difficult to imitate. Instead, it’s just…loud all the time.

The level design is excellent. They seem very large and full of secrets. I can see myself going back to this game repeatedly just to find everything.

So far, so good. I swore off Sonic games after Sonic Adventure 2 (not to say that I didn’t like SA2), but this…this looks to be a fine homecoming indeed.

This is for my daughter who is about to be 4. So there won’t be any RPG’s, just games based off stuff she likes, whether they are good games, or not. But platformers will be a plus. She wants the controller when I play Friday the 13th, but the controllers are too big, and she doesn’t get the correlation of camera controls to move characters in 3D games with 2 sticks. But I also don’t let her play games, since the stuff I play, really isn’t friendly LOL. She used to be scared of F13th.

Also as I said, getting a mini controller for the 360 could be a thing, but now that I think about that, only shitty 3rd parties make them, and even with good care, functions like to stop working on 3rd party controllers, and they only made wired ones for 360.

And if she doesn’t take to games, I will buy the DS Castlevanias again, beat them, and sell it.

RDR2 is so fun, just started playing it today cause it took forever to download the digital version from PSN

The style switch is better implemented in Kiwami due to being able to switch styles from…

  • Taunt
  • Combo ender
  • Blocking
  • Getting knocked down

…and I think a couple more states,but regardless those let you go ham on styles if one wants with the start-up and recovery animations. Not to mention combat doesn’t feel floaty like 0’s, but that’s due to it being iterative. The style switch being faster made some for intense moments at fast pace.

Other than internet culture, not sure why Kiwami gets the dogged on since the style system lets you keep pace with the game. I started with 1 (way back on the PS2, which gets dogged on as well) and was digging what I played back then, so Kiwami was a cool upgrade. I played zero after Kiwami, but I’m positive I would’ve loved it all the same.

Not sure if I’d play them out of order since but if you want go for it? I started up 6 for the mini-games (VF5:FS, Puyo Puyo) and to see Kamurocho in the Dragon Engine, bit I won’t progress stroy wise (I’m on Chapter 5) until the remasters come out.

In other news…waiting on the article to be translated where Sega says they have NAOMI running on the Switch.

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https://youtu.be/kAbu0LaQxmc

Not sure about this matchmaking setup they got going, lol…

Kiwami may have a tedious level up system, but it still manages to be more engaging than the PS2 original and with a greater variety of combat options. It also features some side story tie ins with Zero as well as new segments that add to the story.

Kiwami 2 is in many ways inferior to the PS2 original, and doesn’t have the variation in styles that Kiwami 1 has. Instead of adding to the story of 2 it also removes segments.

I do not understand why you dislike Yakuza 5 so much. It has the greatest subplots of any of the games and the best combat gameplay. The only thing that ticked me off about the whole thing was the idol shit. However, outside of having to do well on the rhythm practice nonsense (which is slightly less cancerous with no sound) I skipped every cutscene and let the game go fuck itself for every other piece of shit idol mission until I could play as Akiyama. Also, fuck that idol bitch for not being able to transfer items she has no use for to Akiyama. I wish she joined her mother in the afterlife early on instead of making Yakuza 6’s story a depressing disappointment. Why the hell did that punce not take the shot when he had her in his sights? It would have made the story infinitely better.

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Oh shit Akira!

Yakuza 5 put me to sleep in the first 20 minutes.

Will try again someday.

Kirby escaping the Thanos beams was so hype lol.

Overall, this direct was Zzzzz.

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Sakurai’s face after the Seasons Pass was very self aware, lol. Guile, Akira and Spring-Man assists were cool. Would’ve preferred playable but what can you do.

Might pick this up. Nabbed a year later for the Wii U but didn’t play too much, might get it day one if Black Friday deals apply to pre-orders.

no matter how you feel about smash as a fighter its value as just a game is really good.

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PSVR $250 with camera, 2 move controllers, and 2 games on BF at Target.

If you have a PS4 and don’t have a PSVR, that should be a no brainer to pick that up.

If there was a game out I wanted to play in VR then I’d be on it, but so far there isn’t. Glad to see the price coming down tho, thats awesome.

I’m hoping Cyberpunk 2077 supports it. That game would get me to jump on it.

I been eyeing the Vive when it comes to VR. There’s enough games I’m interested in to give VR a shot.

It’s my least favorite game in the series next to 6, mainly because the pacing is so goddamn terrible. The combat is pretty damn amazing though, right behind 0 and Kiwami 1’s stance system.

TIERS WITH PERSONAL BIAS:

Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2. It’s the first game in the series I played many years ago, and the story and pacing is fantastic throughout.

Yakuza 3. While the combat isn’t as good as it is in other games of the series, it being a direct sequel to 2 was amazing to me at the time because the story picks up right where 2 left off. Awesome game. RIKIYAAAAAA

Yakuza Kiwami 1. People like Zero over this game but I’m not sure why, the combat is really similar to 0’s but instead of leveling up via money doing the terribly boring and lame construction/hostess bullshit you level up in more traditional ways like you did in older series of the games. Beating the shit out of people and doing quests. I also liked seeing where things started between Kiryu and his buddy.

Yakuza Zero. I liked everything about it except for leveling up via money, which I’ve complained about before.

Yakuza 4. This is the first time you could play as characters other than Kiryu. I typically liked the Yakuza games where the focus is on Kiryu because they feel more…focused. Akiyama is awesome but I didn’t find the cop to be fun to play as even with the parry gimmicks and that one dude who’s Majima’s BROTHER is slow as molasses. The story involving him is really cool though.

Yakuza 6. They introduced really cool combat with 5 and the Kiwami games but then in typical Yakuza series fashion they threw it all out the window for…automatic heat moves after you fill up your heat gauge. I forget the name of it, but once your heat gauge fills up you turn into Rambo with a click of a button and just run through everything coupled with automatic heat moves that take the satisfaction out of doing them. Combat took a step back and the way they ended Kiryu’s story was pretty lame imo.

Yakuza 5. Awesome graphics that pushed the PS3, fantastic combat, coupled with absolutely dogshit pacing that brings the entire experience down. The setpieces are a highlight of the series though. There’s a fight at the docks against literally a 100 yakuza, and another near the end of the game where you fight against 100’s of dudes at once. It’s pretty awesome stuff.

Yakuza: Dead Souls. This is the only one I haven’t finished next to the original Yakuza on PS2 and it’s mainly because of the DOGSHIT FPS. It runs like crap in combat at pretty much all times. It had the Yakuza charm with the sidequests and the like, but the FPS and constant slowdown drove me nuts. Binary Domain was 100X more enjoyable a third-person shooter, but it also had immense slowdown against certain bosses as well.

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VR for me is DOOM, Rez, Z.O.E. 2 (even though it’s just cutscenes?). I’m interested in Astrobot, but the hype I’m not sold on. I’d grab it just for curiosity sake, and it’s a platformer which is a plus. I’m close to pulling the trigger on VR but at the same time I’m happy with what I have, and time wise I don’t know where I’d fit in between the current systems I have.

I gotta skip over parts of posts that mention Yakuza 6, lol. Beginning of Yakuza 6 sold me on Yakuza 5. I was going to skip it (and the others) initially but shit looked crazy.

I saw the Yakuza 4 remaster trailer and the cop fights look cool. I’m a fan of parry systems in games in general.

Astrobot and Moss are VR experiences like nothing you’ve ever played before on non-VR gaming. Those 2 games alone are worth it IMO. Shit, Moss alone is worth it. And then you have RE7 which is also unreal and you have never experienced a survival horror game like that, if you have the balls to actually play it.

There’s also a lot of $10-$20 VR games that you haven’t heard of because they are VR only and are awesome experiences. Some of them are like 2 hours long for $10, but I like these ā€œmicro-gamesā€ when it comes to VR. Like Statik is one of the coolest VR games I’ve played too, and again, it’s a puzzle game that can’t be played without VR. I had no clue what it even was until like an hour before I bought it, then loved it.

And I won’t even get into how incredible Farpoint is with the Aim controller…

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