Review #768: The Yakuza Remastered Collection

 Finally, Yakuza 5 has officially seen a physical release on the West.

 I've written at length about the Yakuza series, so with The Yakuza Remastered Collection I'll take a slightly different approach. There's no need to delve into what are these games, as every Yakuza game is basically the same, for good or bad. Contained in this box are Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5, and as far as I can tell, Yakuza 5 is the only one that hasn't been changed in any way. Which is just fine by me, since this is the Yakuza game I've waited years to play.

 Yakuza 3 Remastered

 This is the one that has changed the most, although just for us Westerners. A few spicy sub missions involving a crossdresser got completely axed, which no great loss there since they weren't all that fun or funny. On the other hand, most of the minigames that didn't make it into the original localized version were restored.... which doesn't really change how much I like Yakuza 3 since I didn't care too much about those in the first place.

 That said, Yakuza 3 is fantastic, I liked it a lot, although it has a much slower beginning than other games in the series. Everything I wrote last year about this game holds true to this day.

 Yakuza 4 Remastered

 Ah, Yakuza 4, the first Yakuza game I ever played, purchased it at release too! It was the first game to include other playable characters besides Kiryu. While a lot of people still mock it for the Saejima-related plot twist, I'm sorry, but I found the climax of the story to be incredible, and every now and then I still talk about it with my friends. The game's biggest change is also it's only change, Tanimura got completely redesigned and his lines are now read by a different voice actor. It has to do with the original voice actor being found guilty of possession and other shenanigans which is why he didn't return for 5.

 You've no idea how much I loved this game. I was just shy 1 trophy away from Platinum-ing the game before my hard drive got corrupted. And I went into the "Flashbacks" section just for the trophy... only to find every storyline prior to be amazing, it completely sold me on the series. So... yeah, coming back to this game was quite a treat.

 As previously mentioned, this was the first Yakuza game to offer more than one playable character, 4 in fact, an each character gets their own set of chapters, their own moveset, a master to train with, sub-stories and goals: Kiryu has to defeat a gang, Tanimura has to attend to police matters, Akiyama has a Hostess Maker minigame and Saejima has a Fighter Maker minigame. It's not as dense or as lengthy as Yakuza 5, but it's definitely a step above previous games in terms of length.

 I replayed this game after playing 5, and it was interesting how this game actually runs on a slightly different engine, combat feels a teeny tiny bit stiffer but also crunchier, and it's much more gorier. I mean, enemies can end up drenched in blood, and it's glorious, I actually wish they would've kept it like this.

 Say what you will about 'that' plot twist, I still think the story in this game is amazing and ridiculous in all the right ways. Plus, adding more playable characters felt like the best addition to the series since being able to change the direction of your attacks in Yakuza 2.


Yakuza 5 Remastered

 The one that got away, Yakuza 5, considered by many one of the best games in the series. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's definitely the biggest Yakuza game by far. You thought 4 characters was alright? How about 5. Tanimura is no more, in his place comes Tatsuo Shinada, an ex-baseball player accused of cheating and Haruka Sawamura who.... well, let's say I disagree a lot with what they did with her. Since each character is pretty much their own world, I'll write briefly about each.

 The developers must have taken to heart a few of the criticisms from 4, because now you start playing as Kiryu right away, now taking the alias of Suzuki. He gets the city of Nagasugai. Kiryu is a balanced fighter with a ton of different Heat actions for different situations. He lost the Red Heat ability, but now you can press R2 to enter a Super Mode for as long as your Heat gauge lasts. His story revolves around him trying to keep away from Haruka's dream while getting embroiled yet again in the Tojo/Omi Alliance affairs. He gets Taxi driving sub missions, which are really fun, you have to give good advice to your passengers, while respecting the traffic code. You also get to partake in racing against the Devil Killers, a gang of speed racers. You can customize how your taxi looks as well as the music that plays during races.

 Saejima returns for the second set of chapters, beginning his story in prison but it's not soon before he starts getting harassed by other inmates. Eventually, he gets to escape in order to find out who killed Majima and what's going on with the Tojo. Saejima is a power house that can charge his Triangle attacks and is the only character capable of lifting the heaviest objects. His style is now all about bouncing enemies on the ground in order to grab them and spinning them around. Saejima's story takes place in Tsukimino as well as a small village, his side missions being about Hunting. You have to take food into the wilderness, aim in first person and shoot in order to hunt deers and bears. It's surprisingly fun.

 Akiyama is the third chapter, well, half of it, for you see, he gets the short end of the stick and has to share his chapter and city, Sotenbori, with Haruka. He doesn't even get side missions.... but at least he gets 15 sub-stories like everyone else, I guess. His story is tied to Haruka's, as you'd expect, since he returns to recover the missing money that he lent to Haruka's producer, but it's not as simple as it sounds.... Akiyama is fast and nimble, but he is a bit weaker and has less health than the other guys. Now he can press triangle to juggle enemies into the air and keep hitting them by mashing square.

 Tatsuo Shinada is the final chapter before the Finale begins, after being framed for cheating at Baseball he has been making ends meet by writing smut for porographic magazines... as well as borrowing money from loan sharks. An eternal loser if you will, he gets contacted by a not-so-mysterious figure to discover why he was framed. He gets the city of Kineicho. At first I hated Tatsuo, but I grew to like him, just like Akiyama, he isn't a legendary Yakuza power fantasy like Kazuma or Saejima, he gets tired and he gets pummeled by characters other than the big bads. He is fun, he is different from the others. His fighting style is quite different too, he is built around grappling enemies, so he can interrupt his square combos with circle to grab enemies or press triangle when in hit mode after a finisher attack in order to tackle enemies into a grapple. He is also a weapons expert, so he wields weapons in his own unique way, and he is able to find unbreakable, but weak, versions of the Knife, Katana, Pole and Rod. His side missions are about Batting and meeting up with his old team mates.

 Haruka... oh boy, Haruka. Let's start with her story, it makes no sense. Anyone who's played Yakuza 2 knows that she hated the idea of becoming an idol, so in Yakuza 5 she decides to become an Idol. Which, fair enough, people change, but she does so at the cost of Kiryu having to abandon the Orphanage which makes absolutely no sense for her. What about the fact that the producer, Mirei Park, is a bonafide jerk who gets portrayed in a very sympathetic light. She manipulated Kiryu into leaving the Orphanage and his kids, for "Haruka's well being since paparazzi would flock to discover her origins' and then she'd threaten Haruka that if she didn't perform well she'd stop paying for the Orphanage. Yet everyone is always saying good things about her and making her dream a reality. No, no way, screw her. Then there's the way Haruka is portrayed, in previous games she's always been a headstrong character, but now she's very submissive and docile, letting her rivals put her down because she's now a 'soft spoken waifu' type character. As a whole, I really didn't care about the trials and tribulations of an Idol, so I found her story to be completely boring, even though I grew to really like her supporting cast, Yamaura, Christina and Yoko, but her story as a whole just didn't do it for me.

 The worst part about Haruka is that she doesn't even 'fight' in the traditional way, instead she has 'Dance Battles', which are basically rhythm button-pressing affairs. How awesome would it have been to see Haruka perform some of Kiryu's staple moves? But, whatever, Japan feels very strongly about gender roles, I can understand that, so why not give her Tanimura's defensive style? That could've worked too. I actually liked the different songs Haruka got to sing, but this isn't really what I want from a Yakuza game. He side-missions are about Idol duties, like giving handshakes to her Otaku fans or picking the right answers during interviews. I won't go as far as to claim that Haruka ruined Yakuza 5, because I didn't hate her part, but I hate what they did with her character, and I found her part of the story to be the most dull.

 If you couldn't tell by now, Yakuza 5 is HUGE. There are five different towns, each with a ton of side activities to partake into. Each character has their own set of Side-Missions(Except Akiyama), their own 15 sub-stories, their own fighting styles and their own Masters they can learn from. If I had one gripe, it'd be that until you get to Kamurocho you can't go above level 20, which sucks because a lot of experience points earned from Sub Stories might get wasted. For a completionist like me, each character took me about 10 hours to complete, so I was about 40 hours in before the Finale, the fifth chapter in which all characters meet up in Kamurocho, and then I cleared the game after hitting the 57 hour mark. It's a massive, MASSIVE game and it's pretty fun to boot.

 The Yakuza Remastered Collection is one amazing deal, and its release means that now you can experience the entire story of Kazuma Kiryu on PS4. That said, Yakuza games are pretty samey and repetitive, so you should take a breath before starting up Yakuza 5.
 10 out of 10