Yakuza Kiwami 2 How to Find All Substories - PlayStation ...

Hey everybody I'm back! from the creator of such post as "Just Played Thru Yakuza 3 for the First Time!" I'm back with the sequel! I'm gonna tell y'all what I liked and disliked about the game as well as have some questions for y'all to hopefully answer! It's currently 2 AM and I finished playing like, an hour ago so if like, sentence and spelling comprehension go out the window, that's why. Let's go babey!!
Right off the bat though I'll say I enjoyed 4 so much more thoroughly than 3! I know it's a basic bitch opinion but that's how I feel! Frankly, Kamorocho felt so much more fun to explore around and do stuff in than 3 did. The fact that they finally added in rooftops and underground sections to the city made it feel just that much more alive to me and I loved exploring the different nooks and crannies. When I realized you could go up to the rooftops and explore on the roof AND see the streets below I was almost as excited as when I was the first time I went into a store and it was a seamless transition right into it in Kiwami 2. Honestly I think if they could pair Yakuza 4's rooftops and underground areas with the Dragon Engine, that'd probably have the makings of the best possible version of Kamorocho.
Anyway, with that intro out of the way here's a more detailed and itemized list of the shit I liked and disliked as well as questions for y'all for when I play Yakuza 5!
The Good/Cool Shit:

• While we're on the topic of basic bitch opinions, holy fuck Akiyama is THE BEST!!! His fighting style is supa cool and unique, I loved his mannerisms, and he just gives off the vibe of a cool ass dude I'd wanna hang out with IRL. That said, I also see where they got the inspiration for Y0 era Majima from too. The laid back demeanor, casual way of speaking, even fuckin' owning a cabaret club is all shit they'd do for Majima later on in 0 and it's so cool kind of seeing the 1.0 version of that in Akiyama.
• There's finally a cute chubby gal in a Yakuza game!! For real tho, Hana-chan can get it. Deadass the whole time I was playing through the "Lonely Hana-chan" substory I was just like, "yo send ME in" lol!
• Gramphics got real good! Idk what they did but there's a real noticeable uptick in graphical fidelity between 3 and 4! Did they switch engines or something during development or just learn to utilize PS3 hardware better with the new entry?
• The progression system is so much better omg! Each level up felt meaningful and there's a degree of customization that absolutely blows 3's out of the water.
• The melodrama is so juicy in this one! I feel like aesthetically and tonally, the series really starts to hit its stride here and I'm struck with the over the top craziness and emotional highs that I feel in love with from 0.
• I loved the way the different characters navigated Kamorocho! Akiyama's normal run through in the first quarter gets subverted by Saejima having to deftly navigate the underground and areas Akiyama never got the chance to visit. And Tanimura being able to access Little Asia, a feat nobody else was able to do up to that point gave so much depth to the city showing how people from other Asian countries are treated in Japan.
• It's interesting that the same series whose first game's only interaction with Chinese people was the super stereotypical ancient Chinese temple whose members all spoke broken Japanese shows the plight of Chinese people being subject to intracontinental racism in the 4th game in the series. Is this a benefit of the new writing team somebody told me about in my last post (shoutout u/TheImadoof for that tidbit of info!) or is it the same writers doing something different?
• Tanimura's quirk was gambling and specifically playing Mahjong and I don't know what it is about this version particularly but I played A LOT of mahjong because of this! I didn't quite get the trophy for beating the tournament or anything but I was able to go toe to toe with the Advanced AI pretty regularly after brushing up on game knowledge. I now like, know about mahjong! I'm not the best at making amazing hands or anything and sometimes I feel like I totally should be able to call Tsumo when the game won't let me but damn if it ain't fun! I almost wanna play 0 or K2 again just to see what their Mahjong tables are like now!
• Revelations still slap!! Each character getting their own little bit to do when they discover something cool was a nice touch too! I loved Tanimura sketching in his notebook and noting down different things about the moves he'd pull off and I laughed every time Saejima would fuckin' brake out the woodcarving tools and just hammer shit away the absolute madman lol!
• The game became that much better for me when I realized Akiyama is basically Tom Nook (0 interest loans paid off at whatever rate you want) and Saejima is basically Cotton Hill (I killed 18 men!). In that respect I would have LOVED if Saejima was like, 4 feet tall and still built like at truck. Peak "Mom said it's my turn on the Xbox" energy
• Majima!! He's still the man (as you saw!) and I love his scenes so much! When he got taken to jail you know ya boi was yellin' "Free the homie!!"

The Stuff I Didn't Like:

• The repeated content kinda blows if I'm being honest. Having to repeat the "X Character VS Cabaret Clubs" substory for 3 separate characters is so boring and tedious. It's the same thing every time, go to each club once to meet the hostess, then a second time to talk to them, THEN go to the Cuze Bar and talk to The Mars Fighters about each girl. Answer each question right and get 30,000 yen. That and this may be my PC user showing but there's a pretty consistent bug where if you go into either Shine or Jewel and try to the other club, the game is straight up stuck at a loading screen and I have to restart the game to get it to work.
• Repeat revelations are a crime tbh. The best thing about revelations is how unique and weird and once in a blue moon they are! When you repeat them the magic is totally gone! Also am I supposed to believe that a good like, week or so apart Kiryu and Akiyama just happen to find the exact same lady cop sticking up the exact same hostage with a knife?? How often does this kid get stabbed?
• It feels like they were really running low on steam when they finally got to Kiryu content wise. To give perspective, he only has 2 revelations and they're BOTH recycled content from earlier in the game and by the end of the story I was kinda like, "wait why is Kiryu fightingDaigo? He already beat his ass in like, the second game and there's nothing to really demonstrate that he's gotten more powerful or anything like that other than the fact that he just kinda is more powerful when you fight him.
• Saejima's main story is WAYYYY more interesting than any of his substories! It feels like such a subversion of what I normally play the Yakuza games for. Normally I play thru the main story to get more substories and the added power I got from completing them was just a bonus but with Saejima it's like they pumped his story full of interesting stuff like him breaking out of prison and fighting Majima in a batting cage but then all of his substories are just like "be a bodyguard!" I play these substories to see how these people react in different situations! Not just like, the same situation over and over.
• I'm just gonna say it, I don't like Saejima. Maybe it's that he tries to force himself on Haruka and 3 games with this girl has made me go into full on protec mode and be like NO! YOU DON'T DO THAT! GET AWAY FROM HER! Or maybe it's just that I gelled with his combat style the least out of all the characters but for what ever reason I like Saejima the least out of all the characters.
• Tanimura I'm more disappointed in than anything because they have such a cool character with so many character quirks and a super interesting battle style that has you literally handcuffing people in battle then give him almost nothing in terms of substories. He's a fan of Mahjong but aside from a few lines here and there, absolutely nothing about it comes up! I'm not expecting like, a Yakuza 0 tier minigame substory or anything but like, something? Please?? Most of his substories felt like extensions of the main story, finding out who his dad is and all that junk, and that's not what I play substories for! Aside from like, maybe 2 that were legitimately interesting, a lot of hella boring substories for him and it sucks bc I really like him as a character!
• I'm hella conflicted on the story bc on one hand the melodrama is fucking palpable and the writers are clearly masters of suspense and payoff and all the story fights are cool as fuck and crazy as hell but on the other hand... Rubber Bullets...
• You're telling me Saejima went to kill a whole fucking group of people and ALL OF HIS GUNS were filled with RUBBER BULLETS?? And then AND THEN when Arai shoots the police chief, his gun was ALSO RUBBER BULLETS and he didn't think ANYTHING was weird when he shot the chief and there wasn't any blood?? I swear to god this game had me howling and just repeating "RUBBER BULLETS" at the top of my lungs because gaaah that's so dumb!! I swear when Akiyama gets shot at the end and he goes to be like "oh wait I'm okay actually" I was yelling "I SWEAR TO GOD THIS BETTER NOT BE RUBBER BULLETS!!" I feel like that one real estate lady in that Spongebob episode going "ARE THERE ANY MORE RUBBER BULLETS I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT??"

Expectations for When I Play 5:
I'm real excited to play 5. I've heard it's both in the same engine as Yakuza 0 and it's supposedly the biggest Yakuza game ever so I bet that'll be fun! I've seen it regularly top people's lists of the best Yakuza games with either it or 0 being consistently at the top so I'm expecting something fuckin' dope and I'm gonna be disappointed if I don't at least like it as much as 4.
Questions:
Just some random questions for y'all since you were so kind as to read thru this whole screed!

• Who were your favorite characters in 4?
• What did you think of the story?
• What is your impression of 4 overall?
• Is 5 better than 4 as a lot of people say?
• Do you think I'll like 5 based on what I've described here and in other places?

Thanks again for reading!

Hi all!
I apologize, this might be a little wordy and meandering, but I have some thoughts and some questions I wanted to run past the community. I'm not averse to mild spoilers in responses, but preferably don't spoil major story elements of the other games in the series!
Ok, so first of all, wow! I regret sleeping on this series for as long as I did. I long thought that Yakuza was basically "GTA in Japan" with some cartoonish over-the-top combat which was a little off-putting to me. When I learned that the games were heavily focused on the stories & characters and had a lot of side activities, it piqued my interest, so I finally decided to give it a shot.
I was of course pleasantly surprised to learn that Yakuza Kiwami was basically nothing like GTA and instead more in the vein of a Shen Mue game (only, IMO, better!). I very quickly took a liking to Kiryu and Nishiki in the opening chapter (ohhhh boy was I in for it) but found Majima incredibly off-putting at first (ohhhh boy was I wrong on that count too!), and by the time I was through the opening and Kiryu was returning to Kamurocho after his ten-year stint, I was completely sold on the characters and narrative and couldn't wait to see where the story was going to take me.
I absolutely adored nearly everything about this game. The characters, the plethora of substories, the impressively realized optional activities -- hell, I took the time to learn how to play Riichi Mahjong entirely because of this game (even if I still struggle to keep straight in my mind when I've got at least one proper Yaku; I also end up in Furiten too often still)! I couldn't grok Shogi though -- that one's complex enough that I'll have to learn and come back to it later.
The only element of the game that never truly clicked with me was the combat. I tend to struggle with fighting games in general anyway so no surprise there, but in particular I never got a handle on blocks/dodges/counters other than mashing the punch button to counter sometimes in Brawler style. I pretty much went through the whole game using Beast style against crowds and Brawler style against 3 or less opponents. Struggled a bit with some of the boss fights and enemies with weapons (that last battle against Jingu and his two lackeyswas particularly rough). I got enough of a basic sense of simple combos and Heat actions (even if I don't have the reflexes to his the proper button when it shows up in the middle of certain moves) to get me by and found much of the combat entertaining throughout the mid-game.
So my main question comes down to this: does the combat get more challenging as the series progresses (including Yakuza 0, which I am going to play next before moving on to 2)? If so, how much of it is dependent upon better reflexes for dodges/blocks/counters and/or those button prompts during certain moves? I'm a bit concerned that if the series ramps up much past that spoiler I noted in the prior paragraph, it might outstrip my aging twitch skills -- especially with how poor I have always been at fighting & brawler games.
I just want to continue on and in particular enjoy everything else I loved about this game. I am wholly enamored with the Yakuza series now and want to experience the rest!

I just finished playing Yakuza Kiwami 2 and played 0 and Kiwami 1 before that in the same month. That's close to 200 hours of gameplay, so it's fair to say that Yakuza was almost my entire life for a few weeks. Thanks Game Pass !
I'm usually more on a lurker on this sub but I needed to take a moment and reflect on these 3 games, so I might as well share my thoughts with everyone. For those who don't know the series, the first Yakuza came out on PS2 and follow the story of Kazuma Kiryu, a famous yakuza who ends up in prison for a murder he didn't commit. 10 years later, he is released and finds out that his Clan is on the verge of collapse. He decides to step in this world again to save the Clan and find out what happened to his sworn brother. Kiwami is the remake of Y1 and and Kiwami 2 is obviously the remake of Y2. Yakuza 0 is a prequel that came out a year before Kiwami in Japan and follows not only a young Kiryu but also Goro Majima, a very important character in the entire series.
These games are open worlds, but very tiny ones. Everything happens in Kamurocho, based on the red light district of Kabukicho in Tokyo, and Sotenbori, its counterpart in Osaka. You can travel from one point of Kamurocho to any other point in less than 5 min (2 once you get the ability to run forever). But the cities are packed with so many substories, fights, restaurants and minigames that you will spend hours to get to your next primary objective. In some games it bothers me, in other it just makes sense to walk around forever. Yakuza should be in the first category since the plot is always so urgent and you really shouldn't mess around. Many times in the series you're being chased by dozens of men wanting you dead, but you always end up playing a game of mahjong, singing at a karaoke or talking with a naked dude. And I didn't care. The team that made these games created a caricature of Japanese society so fascinating that the main story is just there to provide a bit of tension and put two or more mountains of muscle in front of each other to fight for they lives. Aside from Yakuza 0, which has a fairly solid plot, the Yakuza series if filled with so many plot holes that I gave up trying to understand the true intentions of the main characters. From what I've heard it's not better in the next ones. The story is saved by endearing characters that can genuinely die at every moment. I've never been this afraid for my favourite characters since Game of Thrones, and that fact makes every set piece have so much impact.
As I said earlier, the world itself and the side activities are what makes the series shine in my opinion. These games approach every aspect of the entertainment industry in Japan and many issues that plague Japan society (loan sharks, racket, sexism, corruption, treatment of marginals, every abuse imaginable). Yakuza 0 being set in the late 80s and 1 in 2005, you also get to see how things evolved with new technologies. The developers are not ashamed to tackle everything about the Mizu shobai (literally water trade), which designate the nighttime entertainment where women are involved, except for prostitution. Cabaret, hostess club, telephone club. They go as far as using real gravure idols and porn actresses as voice actresses and models for characters in the games. Despite the fact that a lot of subjects can be very dark, the big difference between the main story and the side activities is the tone. While the main story is always very serious and tense, the side content always end well no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're exchanging sexy pictures with a naked guy or saving a girl from rape. The main story is dark enough, so the substories are there to bring up issues but at least they always resolve well in the game. I do need to mention that not all substories have dark premises, many of them are cheerful from start to finish.
You also get to play old SEGA arcade games, rage at the UFO catcher, discover the amazing game of mahjong (seriously it's addicting), get beaten over and over by the easy difficulty of shogi, get catfished trying to meet girls and look at your very serious main characters completely liberate themselves while singing karaoke or dancing disco. These games are riddled with game designs flaws: 1/4 of the people in the street are thugs wanting to beat your ass, the bosses take less and less damage the closer you get their hp bar to zero, convoluted ability trees, gun enemies that can make many fights unfun, terrible car chase sequences, plot holes and filler content even in the main story. Yet this is probably one of my favorite series ever because of the constant tone shifts that stop the game from ever becoming dull. And I haven't played half the game in the series yet ! I'm definitely looking to play the remastered collection of Yakuza 3,4 and 5 in a very near future.
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For new players, I would definitely recommend playing Yakuza 0 first. It is great as a standalone, has the better story and sets up Kiryu and Majima very well if you decide to go forward with the series. The fighting system is also better than the one in Kiwami in my opinion, but Kiwami 2 takes the cake for this aspect. I have to mention that there is a big engine improvement between Kiwami and Kiwami 2, so some flaws disappear at the same time.
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Edit : A few people seems to disagree with my title. IMO, a game that presents the entertainment industry in Japan, the traditional games like shogi or hanafuda, the food served in restaurants and so on is a gateway to Japan culture (I guess "culture" could have been a better word for it). It doesn't have to be accurate, I even said that the game is a caricature in many ways. But I didn't know half of the activities that were presented to me. Since I played these games I looked up hostess clubs and found out that it is still mainstream to this day. As someone who took Japanese lessons for two years it is crazy to me how little I knew about these entertainment districts, simply because the Japanese themselves are not very proud of it. The Yakuza series is not a history lesson, but it seems like a good entry point to get curious about Japan.

I've just got the 1000g in Yakuza Kiwami on X Box One X, after completing my legendary difficulty playthrough and finally finishing the game.
It was fun, for me the highlights were the battle through the apartment building in chapter 11, the funeral level, the fight on and next to the ship in chapter 12, and overall the story; one of the best story's I've ever played through in a game.
Things I didn't love so much would be Majima continuing to pop out everywhere even after I've maxed out my Majima everywhere rank; the frequency of random encounters; the cheapness of the AI during some battles and mini games; mahjong; the Otometal karaoke song and the car chase on legendary. Everything else was a blast, so much fun.
The world was dense, colourful and alive, the story was dramatic, emotional, logical and gripping. The Substory's were goofy, fun and a nice change of pace to the heaviness of the main story's plot.
The combat was fast, exciting and varied, Dragon style had to be my number one choice, it felt awesome mastering Tiger Drop to wreck opponents.
The achievements were fun to pursue, and although some were tough the majority of them felt achievable with enough effort; although asking me to get 250 on the Otometal karaoke song was unfair. It honestly felt like a complete brick wall to my progress, and although I did it I still feel like they should have only asked for 200.
Asking for 250 felt a little spiteful to the player, ultimately I don't suppose it matters since it wasn't enough to stop me beating the game and getting every achievement.
Overall I had a blast playing this game, good times. I can't wait to start the next one. Got the platinum for Zero, 1000g for Kiwami, and beat Yakuza 3 back on PS3. Next up is Kiwami 2, I can't wait. I love this series.
Though not quite yet, I think I'm going to need a few weeks away from Majima; not sure I'm ready to let him back into my life yet. I need a break lol.
Thanks Sega.
Happy gaming guys.

The Yakuza games will go down as one of my favorite video game series of all time. I never spent so much time in a video game series in a while. So much time dedicated to get all platinum trophies. Managed to get at least 2, Yakuza 4 remastered and Yakuza 6, I might go back to get the rest someday but there are other games I would to play down the line and I have to deal with college and family. Can't deal with pool, pachinko, slots, and mahjong. Other than I like to share my thoughts/ramblings towards the games.
Yakuza 0:
I regret not playing this first when I decided to give the series a try because I was looking for something new that I haven't played. It's a perfect introductory to the series with a unique setting. The only issue I had is the idea of Majima and Makoto's relationship being centered around romantic love. I don't see it as that kind of love as the "love" it's simply just caring for one another with no romance. I enjoyed how it developed characters like Kiryu, Majima, and Nishiki. The Dojima lieutenants were cool with Kuze being the best. I like how the substories introduced Ryuji,Daigo, Haruka's dance teacher, Shinji, and made references to the previous installments (fortune teller) before 0. Never knew how much certain boss battles can hype you up. I enjoyed the story a lot.
Yakuza Kiwami:
This was my first Yakuza game after making the decision from outlets saying to start from 1 than 0 based on the ideas of prequels not being a good starting point. Story is more short but I got to understand the world and the characters somewhat. Despite it being my first Yakuza game, I still enjoyed what it offered. Majima Everywhere was fun but it can get annoying at times. The Nishiki boss fight is my all time favorite fight with the perfect ost. However, I believe Nishiki didn't get enough screen time and turning heel made sense with the constant comparison to Kiryu, pressure with Yumi missing, and failing to save his sister.
Yakuza Kiwami 2:
I liked the rivalry vibe between Ryuji and Kiryu, reminds me of a good feud for a world heavyweight championship or anyone who wants to be the best. Kaoru's relationship with Kiryu felt more natural, believable, and better developed than his relationship with Yumi. The twists and turns felt kinda silly like Big Show's face and heel turns but whatever video games I guess. It's great that Majima got closure with Makoto for good but he should've gotten more of a story than just an hour gameplay and story.
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Yakuza 3:
I like how Kiryu has a fresh new start but... Why did Kaoru decide to leave Kiryu for her career? After all the stuff in 2, at least have more a discussion to make it believable than changing your mind the next day because Kiryu legit killed your brother (delivered the final blows to a weakened Ryuji) and you were willing to die with him... "Kiryu's true love is Yumi." I declare it BS because it's possible that Kiryu can still love another woman based on his relationship with Kaoru and how he still goes to hostess clubs. Where did Joji Kazama come from? This is like Uncharted 4 with Sam Drake... They did our boi Rikiya dirty even though he had his own substory before his death... Why do idiots rise up in the Nishikiyama Family? Mine was a good villain and I can't believe that Hamazaki was still alive.
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Yakuza 4:
Not a big fan of the retcon with the 10 billion yen because I can't believe a higher power went unnoticed. I'm fine with the sky finance from the tower introducing new characters. At least Kiryu beat some sense to Daigo in the end. Rubber bullets as a plot device is stupid... no blood makes it obvious... Why did Yasuko have to run off if Kiryu was already trustworthy back in Okinawa? What happened to the Ryudo Family? Hamazaki's character development is underrated. I like how introduces multiple characters to play as. Sucks that we never saw Tanimura again despite being referenced in 5 towards the Amon fight.
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Yakuza 5:
This was a pretty long game but enjoyable. I didn't expect Majima to open to another woman again after what occurred in 0 as he wants to do what he wants. How did he fall for an 18 year old? What was his thoughts towards her when wanting to see her again? What is his reaction to her death?Sucks how Kiryu has to keep suffering while being away from his family. Glad to see Haruka live a dream for a moment. Wish we got a follow up from the people who worked with her, like their reactions towards Haruka retiring or making an attempt to contact her. In my opinion, Shinada got a proper send off by going back to Kineicho as it made sense with the implications of his final scene along with Baba going back to prison.
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Yakuza 6:
I like how it continues from 5's ending but it shows how Kiryu's time with Haruka in 5's premium adventure was a dream. I hate how her character was ruined by running off due to the internet and media. It puts disrespect to Yumi's final wishes. At least expand upon it like the level when Kiryu decided to leave after he was told by Park that he was holding the kids back with how they make their own sacrifices to help the orphanage. Using a baby is a cheap plot device to some but I kinda enjoyed it since I have a baby brother that looks like Haruto to me and tension is made well once there is danger towards him. Yuta being the father was a surprise to me but I wish there was more development on Haruka and Yuta's relationship like how did they meet for the first time and how they developed feelings for each other before Haruka was pregnant. Yuta turning heel for a bit was predictable and felt wasted in my opinion as it was dumb to run off and commit murder. Actually reason like how Kiryu wanted him to risk his life for Haruto to be his father. Also how did the door to Hirose family's base magically repaired itself? I believe more could've been done with the story and I like that Nagumo got a happy ending in a way. They did our boi Kiryu dirty with him not getting a happy ending like he deserves with all the shit that the Tojo Clan drags him back into... I get it was for the best... Tojo Clan wouldn't be shit without Kiryu. Wonder what Yakuza 7/Like a Dragon has for him once the game comes to the west.
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Also I played Judgment before the remastered collection was out and I love how it stands alone away from Yakuza by being it's own thing with the world of it.
Say anything you want as I have nothing else to say and thank you for your time reading this. Might've got some details wrong and/or forgotten some things. I would like to hear you guys out about your own thoughts.

Hi. I'm so happy to finally be writing this. As I'm writing, it's 5:46 am in the morning. (IT'S 6:40 AM SINCE I HIT BACK ON MY PHONE AND LOST ALL OF MY WRITING)! :(((
I beat the game like an hour ago. (3 hours ago)
So, first of all. This was my introduction to the Yakuza series. I had heard of it in the past but never paid it attention (I hate myself for that).
So, as a new player I didn't know what awaited me: One of the most amazing gaming experiences in my life! <3
I remember buying this game back in December 2017!! Holy shit, it took me a while!
But I was finally able to finish it. Why it took me so long?
Well I decided to go for the 100% of the game. Now if you know anything about Yakuza you know its a real bitch trying to get it. I remember reading people on the web talking about how the game took about 120 hours to fully complete it, or to even get the Platinum trophy
Seriously, what the hell? 120 hours wasn't enough for me. It took me 216 hours to fully get the 100%!! I remember when I was 80 hours in and how I was thinking, only 40 hours more and I'll finally get that Platinum trophy. How wrong was I.
And I haven't got the Platinum trophy. I still need to beat most of the Climax battles (I was doing them as I was unlocking them so I didn't have to do them all at once, but damn. The game decided to unlock most of them until you finish the game. Welp, fuck me).
So, like I told you, this was my introduction to Yakuza.
So wasn't expecting things like Mahjong or the friggin batting cages.
Actually Mahjong was one of the first things I got out of the way. It took me forever, omg! But I dealt with it, and I was so proud and happy. I thought the worst was left behind and that everything from there was gonna be easier... But HELL NO!!
Shortly after Mahjong, I decided to the the batting cages. I hated them with a passion, though I don't remember much about the minigame since I never touched it again after dealing with it.
Now I could finally say that the worst was behind, right? No, I wasn't.
I had to get good at the dancing minigame. And not only I had to beat all three difficulties with every song. There was also a damned substory where I had to do really good.
Later I was introduced to shogi and I had to win without using help! I was pissed.
And later came the arcade games. Run out really wore me out. The game asking me to get 5 million points was just sadistic. It was mocking me.
But I got it. And everything was gonna be fine.
And then the Cat's Fighting minigame came And I thought it was gonna be fun. But no. The game was just hitting me in the balls, minigame after minigame.
By that time I had already beat all the races with the car toys. And I suffered in those too. And I was happy to beat all the courses... Until the game decided that I had to beat the very best racers of Kamurocho. That was low. And it hurt me. Bad.
Back to the cat's fighting minigame, the game not only asked me to make profit. But to win 10 tournaments!! What in the actual ass!!? My hands hurt after I dealt with that bs.
Everything was going smoothly, until I had that fateful encounter at the Arcade in Sotenbori. FANTASY ZONE!!! Looking back, I can tell you that Fantasy Zone was the worst thing in the game!!
I dunno how much it took me, but I got it. And everything has to be easier now? This time for real, right?
Well, I found out that I had to get 100 weapons and 70 gear items. And RNG was not my friend. I can't tell how much money and time I spent in the weapons searching feature. :(((
I was tired.
RNG was not my friend. It wasn't in any of the minigames I've mentioned so far :((
And it was more clear when I got access to the hobbo minigames at the park. I wanted to punch all those homeless guys sooo badly, lol. Xdd
But all that was dealt with. Once again I was victorious. And then RNG attacked again at the telephone club. I enjoyed that minigame...
Until I found out I had to find 7 girls instead of 3. That was low. And even if I liked the minigame, I ended up tired of it
And then the game threw at me the tournament under Sotenbori. It was ok, but a pain to grind so much in order to rank up. I didn't wanted to see any of it again after I was done (though it was a nice surprise when I saw that damned bear I had to fight with).
During all my journey, what helped me getting through it all was the AMAZING STORY!! <3
OMG! WHAT A STORYLINE! It made me laugh, get mad, yell at the screen and cry.
But I knew that I had to finish all the side stuff before finishing the story. Why?
Because I knew that if I finished the story first, I wouldn't feel motivated to finish everything else.
I treated the storyline as a reward.
Everytime I dealt with some hard ass stuff, I treated myself by letting me advance a little in the story. It was my ultimate motivation.
I ended up loving Kiryu and Majima so much <3 I was so excited to see them meet for the first time. But the game just teased me. When that scene at the end appeared and they met each other, I was fangirling so much, at 4 am. Lol.
I loved Makoto. In fact, I think I fell for her. Wanted to protect her at all cost. So it really hurt me to see everything she went through. I cried alongside Majima at the hospital for her.
I really liked Tachibana. He was such a cool guy. But I felt betrayed by him when I saw the bat on his arm. I had mixed feelings. How did this awesome man could do that to Makoto?
And then came out the truth about Oda. And I was again on Tachibana's side. But I lost him. And I cried and mourned him alongside Makoto in that damned empty lot.
It was so satisfying to destroy Kuze in that torture chamber. But it still hurt a lot after that.
Then there's Oda. I liked the guy, I really did. But ended up hating him. How could he do this to us? Selfish prick. Almost felt pity for him when he got gunned down. Almost.
So I reached the end, just before going after Dojima and Shibusawa.
I was so ready to keep going. And the game stopped me. I still had side stuff to do. LOL.
I finished the Five Stars storyline, but Jesus, I hated how slow your properties leveled up in the Media King turf. And I had to get every property to rank S. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!
Abd after that I finished Majima's cabaret storyline. I loved that one.
The cabaret minigame was so good. And the girls were ADORABLE, specially Yuki. I loved her. She's right up there with Makoto as my waifus, lol.
After that I was ready until I noticed I was missing a gold hostess. I searched like crazy until I discovered I had to dance 3 times in at the dancing club... only to battle against three new opponents at dancing. I was sooooo tired.
The game just kept refusing to be completed. And I was ready for the final battle. I took Kiryu up to Nishiki and... NO!! BEFORE THAT I HAD TO BEAT 400 ENEMIES WITH THE NEWLY ACQUIRED FIGHTING STYLES!! Seriously, I was so desperate at that point. Lol
I finally did it, and what an amazing award awaited me. The conclusion finally came. Those final battles were worth everything.
So good to kick that stupid Chinese assassin who shot Makoto. I was yelling so excited when Majima broke his stupid nose. Lol.
And it was soooo good to see Shibusawa and Dojima defeated.
MAN WHAT A GAME!! I LOVED IT!! I LOVE YAKUZA 0
Even if the game hated me at moments
Can't wait to play Kiwami. (I have it and Kiwami 2 sealed in my shelf)
But wait, I still gotta get that Platinum.
I've heard the climax battles are really tough (I did then as they were unlocking, but the game decided to lock most of them until you beat the game, so I have a lot to do)
And then there's legendary difficulty. I hate when games lock a difficulty. Why do I gotta finish the game twice?? Oh well, at least the story is so good. <3
I'll let you all know if I ever get that damned Platinum Trophy.
Much love. And if you also go for that 100%, good luck my friend <3
My final results screen.

With Judgment, I have now played all Yakuza games, and I always have one major gripe:
Most games in the series (somehow excluding 5, the biggest one), locks away the last few side missions behind some major grind. So I always spend a lot of time clearing side content, only to run out of steam at the end because I didn't know the hoops I had to jump through to finish the last couple.
In Yakuza 0 you had to beat the super hard rhythm game, get lucky with RNG and collect a god engine for your race car, and spend 2x more time grinding the cabaret club minigame after finishing the story in order to unlock the final substory for all 6 girls.
Kiwami 2 copy/pastes the cabaret club minigame, and to be honest I was so disinterested in doing it again that I opted to skip. When I learned that the last 6 substories I needed were tied to the cabaret, I just gave up.
Now with Judgment, I love the game so much that I did all of the side content. I have 48/50 friends and 48/50 side missions complete. In order to finish the last two side missions I have to beat someone at MahJong using a special ruleset, and grind poker chips and other gambling minigame stuff to buy 3 paintings. I have spent all day trying to learn these complicated games, and honestly I don't understand remotely. Learning MahJong seems like a requirement, as I've tried to learn for over two hours and still haven't won a regular game despite the win conditions.
Knowing that I have to earn a ton of chips in poker, koi koi, and whatever other game the third one is after this just kills me.
TL;DR
I want to fight the hardest enemy in the game by finishing all substories. Please stop making me grind minigames to do that RGG studios. Thank you.

Hey guys, ever since Yakuza 0 was ported to steam I've fallen in love with this series. I love it so much I try to 100% every game. I always manage to get almost everything done, but then I reach the completion list challenges which require you to play mahjong. I usually give up when I reach this point, but with Kiwami 2 I feel I can actually complete the challenges since they aren't as RNG filled and in addition I have 2 peerless tiles (1 being used for the substory).
With that intro out of the way, basically I just wanted to ask if any fellow Yakuza fans would be willing to help me out with mahjong. I understand the basics after reading and watching videos about mahjong, but I still screw up and lose a lot. Because of this, I was wondering if anyone who has already dealt with mahjong could possibly help me out by being along side me as I play. Since I play on PC, I was thinking we could use discord that way I could screen share and also talk. Just reply here with your discord username and I'll add you!
UPDATE: Managed to eventually do it on my own! In fact, I finally was able to 100% the game a few minutes ago after breezing through Legend mode! ^^

I kinda get how mahjong works but I can’t seem to defeat those guys. I have been playing for three hours and I still can’t finish the quest. I hate how they turned mahjong into a substory. Edit: This is in Yakuza Kiwami 2 BTW.

I have an awful backlog that just keeps growing. I tell myself I buy and buy so I have games once my money is spoken for. Thing is, with my reviewing gig, the library remains healthy. So, I’m just fooling myself so I can feel better about hoarding.
On account of having too many games, I’m going to try to beat a game a month.
For this month, I’m already playing Yakuza 0. Thought it was about time I gave my PS4 love. My Nintendo Switch has taken over.
So far, the game is fantastic and the story‘s very compelling. I’ve likened it to a Japanese drama. I’m a stickler for story and good writing. This game has it, plus great humour. I do feel the substories could be fleshed out a bit more. The way they are now, it just feels rushed at times. Not all of them mind you, but some. Can’t understand Mahjong or Shogi to save my life!
Afterwards, I’m not jumping into Kiwami right away. I don’t want to get burnt out. I’m thinking I’ll jump on my Switch for some Tales of Vesperia goodness. I adore the franchise but never played this entry. It’s funny because I did purchase a 360, just for this. I couldn’t get used to the controller while playing some Halo, so never even turned it on.
After Vesperia, I’m not quite sure where I’ll go. Might go Spider-Man or God of War. Really hard to say in this regard. I think Kiwami is going to be the fourth game I play, unless I get that itch. By then, I should enough funds for Kiwami 2. I also hope that we hear some news on Yakuza 3 - 5 remastered coming to the west. While not the Kiwami treatment, I’m enamoured with the series.
I’m hoping to be back on my grind in regards to reviewing. This is where my 12in12 might get a bit muddled. Octopath suffered from it. Ended up abandoning it because I had reviews to write. My memory is shit, so I eventually forgot the story. I do plan on jumping back though.
Might jump back on Dead Cells too. I love that game and have so many hours on it. Same deal with Diablo 3. These games are more palette cleansers. Having a hard time getting to the King on Dead Cells so there’s a goal there.
I’ll update once I line things up better!
I, at least, have this and my next game mapped out. That’s a start!