Just beat Yakuza 2 and my friend suggested that I skip Yakuza 3 and watch the story recap in 4. Is it really that bad...

Just beat Yakuza 2 and my friend suggested that I skip Yakuza 3 and watch the story recap in 4. Is it really that bad, or is he bullshitting me?

Why don't you play it and find out?

Yakuza 3 is terrible, it's got mushy clunky combat and even moving around feels like shit. On top of that, about 80% of the minigames/side stuff (the main content of the series) was removed in 3's western release.

it's easily the worst yakuza game, but it's still playable

>the main content of the series) was removed in 3's western release

WTF? Why?

they thought it would get them an AO rating in the US and didn't think their audience would notice

I skipped it as well because of the cut content.

I went back to it after 4/5 because i was desperate to JUST play as Kiryu again.

I'd say it filled that void pretty well and it didn't take as long as I expected to get used to the older controls.

The graphics are terrible and I never got used to them.

Don't listen to these faggots - go play 3.

Well, most of it is hostess-related, but removing 20 sidequests is unforgivable

Id say play it, the improvements from the generation jump are pretty nice

The main thing that was cut was the hostesses. They're not exactly gone however. It's really strange. They're just sitting in mcdonalds waiting for kiryu to talk to them and then it instantly takes you on a few dates and then their final story date and then Kiryu fucks them.

It's really surreal and made the whole game feel strange.

Yakuza 3 is a mess but go play it.

As I've noticed - most of quests that were cut were either about hostess, had cutscenes, were "hard" to translate, or were directly related to either of them. And they dropped a ball on cutscene scripts in english version. It was outsourced to retards. So they fixed story-related ones and cut sidequests. Nobody would notice 20 of 120 quests missing anyway, right?
Same with minigames - too much work, too retarded team.

I think this poster got clunky gameplay mixed with 1 or 2 as Yakuza 3 is where the combat started getting smkooth. Kiryu even plays the same in 4 sans no super finishers.

If anything the pacing can be a bit slow but the action parts, the OST, and the boss fights make it worth it.

There is also the fighting arena.

Literally graphics. Gameplay is almost the same. Red Heat is pretty much the only difference, really. And on Hard and up 99% of enemies just block, block and block so you do the same one combo over and over. S S T T, I think.

I got really bored at the beginning, the stuff with the orphanage is simply so dull. Could be I was also burned out on the series since I marathoned the first two.
The combat might be a bit outdated but it's still a damn good game.

Are you emulating it? If so use the NTSC version to be sure.
If you are using a modded ps2 try both then.

Not that I mind this but yes this is true, if you plan on playing hard, ya better learn that komaki tiger.

The entire game is pretty much a filler.

Your friend's a faggot.

3, 4 and 5's stories are all pretty bad but they're still entertaining, just be prepared for some stupid shit. No reason to skip any of them.

No, it's the biggest fucking meme in the Yakuza fanbase. It's still a fun game.

What about Dead Souls? Is it better than 3 ?

It's a silly spinoff with shitty shooting controls but overall I found it more entertaining than 3, mostly because of playable Majima and Ryuji.

>playable Majima and Ryuji
You mean default gun wielding character with a Majima or Ryuji skin?

Sure why not.

Their stories and side missions were amusing.

Eh maybe it didn't annoy you as much since you didn't play it before Zero was a thing. Just came off as a cheap way to pander to fans without actually having to do anything at all.

Also
>playing as the same character (with cosmetic differences lol) 4 times in a row

Yakuza 3 is fantastic but it takes on a drastically different tone from the first games and the story is far more absurd. It still manages to have some really engaging characters and enjoyable combat

>since you didn't play it before Zero was a thing
What? I played it the day it came out. I know it was nothing but a cheap cash in made while the main team were doing Binary Domain but I find dumb fanservice like crossdressing Daigo pretty funny. I never expected much from the gameplay.

if you take a step back and think about them, all the stories in the mainline games are ridicolous.
This is totally fine though, as they are entertaining while being campy as hell.

Yakuza 3 is just kind of boring. A really nice part of it is near the beginning when you are the caretaker of the children and do some missions where you help them out here and there. That really stood out to me as something different. The rest of the game was kind of all over the place, and by the end I fought a dude on top of roppongi hills again. I can't really remember the plot of it to be honest.

I'm still glad i played it, so I wouldn't skip it if I were you, but go in with some tempered expectations. Yakuza 4 and 5 are better, and not only because of pic related (although he sure as hell does his part).

Final part of final fight in 4 was ass

RUBBER

Don't know why you think that but fair enough. The rest of 4 is pretty amazing.

Hey I agree that it's a barely tolerable cheap spin off if you're desperate. I just think that if you're saying "you get to play as Ryuji and Majima" as some kind of selling point you sound like someone who got fooled and is about to fool other people.

It should be up front that they're just cosmetic changes and you otherwise just get 4 of the same guy.

Don't skip 3

>Okinawa the best city in the series
>boss fights are still memorable
>hitman missions are awesome
>some returning characters from the first game get their story wrapped up

>missing the fight with Wesker
Get that shit on

The part where all the cops are fighting jackie chan with guns. It just breaks the flow of the fight terribly

You mean fighting 20 guys as the most clumsy shit character while some asshole takes potshots at you? Why don't I see people complaining about that more?

Play it for him.

RIKIYA!

___________________________________F

The pacing of Yakuza 3 was fucking horrible
>enstablish character of this guy
>LOLDIED BY A PISTOL

I swear the pistol cliché is getting too much out of hand.
They need to lower any cliché for fuck sake.

This shit keeps happening in every fucking game. What's especially obnoxious is it's never consistent.

>in gameplay you have a ton of ways to take somebody with a gun out
>in cutscenes we're suddenly in real life for some reason

If Kiryu was as tough in cutscenes as he was in gameplay he'd have tiger parried the japanese government and become the next emperor already.

nah he wouldn't, he would rather drive a taxi

Well it's not like he could ever do anything but live a quiet simple life. The police all have OHKO pistols as well so the entire population is living in constant fear of it's police force and those two dishonorable yakuza who also have guns.

at least they don't have that many black people that the police can shoot