LTTP How do you play Yakuza?

[doogles]

I'm very nearly done with Yakuza 0, finally, but I've really kind of blown through it and I know that a major strength of the Yakuza games is the side content. I barely did any real estate or cabaret work. I'm not so worried about it here because I've heard Kiwami 1 has a lot of the same side content as 0, but how do you play Yakuza games, MetaCouncil? Do you stop to play bowling with a chicken (or whatever) while your friends are being tortured, or do you do all the side content early so you can focus on the story when it hits the fan?

 

[OSatan]

Full optimal playthrough, follow a guide so I do everything when is available and optimal.
4 is the best for this, save the city? what city, I'm hunting bears.

Except darts, I will murder all in the league as soon as I get my starter set.

 

[suiko]

in games with minigames I always am distracted with mini games and forget about the main game, exactly like in rl.

 

[SpikeHitman]

I end up approaching Yakuza games the same way I approach any open world game. I spend the first 5-6 hours with a good mix of main and side activities, then after that I pretty much critical path it, and only break from that if I find that I'm underpowered in terms of my abilities, although Yakuza is really good about giving you huge chunks of exp after boss fights so that aspect is kinda minimized.

 

[RionaaM]

The only one I played is Yakuza 0, and I barely touched the minigames. Did my fair share of side stories, several of which were great, although there were many that I didn't unlock. I didn't finish the cabaret, real estate stuff nor combat training either. Too much stuff to do overwhelms me.

 

[Ex-User (307)]

I played Yakuza 0 like I try to play most Open World games.

I play a little side-content as I come across it to get a taste, and then when all (or most) of it is unlocked, I take a break from the story and finish it.

So with Yakuza 0, I basically did the minimum necessary to keep up with the cabaret/real estate chapter by chapter, and then when it was mostly all unlockable, I sat and played through the mini-games to completion, doing side-stories to break up the time (because I believe with at least the real estate there's an IRL timer you have to wait for anyways?).

I don't remember the story pacing be so egregious that it felt like what I was doing was dissonant with the story, but if anything I guess I rationalized it with needing money to save my friends and myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As far as I remember, I mostly did the same with Spidey. A lot of the map stuff is unlocked early on, so before the story got too crazy, I just went around finishing a bunch of outposts and collectibles.

It does kind of come with the nature of open world games that there can be a real dissonance between what you're doing in the world schmucking around versus how pressing the situation is.

 

[Deku]

I did most of the side missions. Even did and finished Real Estate and Cabaret Club mini games. After that I finished the game

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I didn't finish the mini games but I spend some time with the ones I was enjoying like the UFO Catcher, Karaoke, Dancing and the Cabaret.

 

[Maxi]

I tend to explore the mini-games but don't get that heavily invested them during the story beats. I find Yakuza games generally tend to have pretty good pacing where there are lulls in the main story missions allowing you to explore freely.

I'm not much for grinding or repeating content so I only tend to prod at most of the mini-games and side missions to start off with and then return to them after completing the game. With the games being so vast and my gaming time somewhat limited I'll focus more so on the main story than side content as there is just so much of it!

 

[Ascheroth]

I rarely only focus on the critical path in games. I want and try to experience as much content as possible. Unless the content is shitty or I don't like it.
So Yakuza 0 took me 80 hours in total and most of it was side missions and minigames, and I always try to do most of the stuff as soon as it becomes available. I didn't do much with all minigames though (baseball isn't my jam for example, and I don't think I even touched Shogi) and didn't try to do really everything. Once I felt I had enough, I finished up the rest of the main story.

 

[Copons]

I rarely only focus on the critical path in games. I want and try to experience as much content as possible. Unless the content is shitty or I don't like it.
So Yakuza 0 took me 80 hours in total and most of it was side missions and minigames, and I always try to do most of the stuff as soon as it becomes available. I didn't do much with all minigames though (baseball isn't my jam for example, and I don't think I even touched Shogi) and didn't try to do really everything. Once I felt I had enough, I finished up the rest of the main story.

I did pretty much the same.
Usually though optional content is bad enough that I lose interest in the game altogether rather quickly (e.g. I've never finished a Just Cause or a GTA except V), but everything Yakuza 0 is just so engrossing and fun.

Of course I'm not Japanese and very lazy, so I can't be bothered at learning all the traditional board games, but yeah, I've tried to play everything that didn't require a nonsensical amount of time (loved the cabaret minigame, but unlocking all the cutscenes would have taken just too long) or skill (I suck so bad at the dancing minigame... )

 

[Ascheroth]

I did pretty much the same.
Usually though optional content is bad enough that I lose interest in the game altogether rather quickly (e.g. I've never finished a Just Cause or a GTA except V), but everything Yakuza 0 is just so engrossing and fun.

Of course I'm not Japanese and very lazy, so I can't be bothered at learning all the traditional board games, but yeah, I've tried to play everything that didn't require a nonsensical amount of time (loved the cabaret minigame, but unlocking all the cutscenes would have taken just too long) or skill (I suck so bad at the dancing minigame... )

Yeah, I also didn't finish all the side stories for the cabaret minigame.
Dancing and Karaoke were one of my favorites, I made sure to bring all the girls you meet in that telephone dating thingy to those, haha (Ayaka's Heartbreak Mermaid rendition is probably my favorite of those in the game). I did the Majima dancing stuff with no problems, but the opponents on Kiryu's side got really tough at the end. (For some reason I was really good at Koi no Disco Queen, but not so much at the one Kiryu's final opponent had).
I actually tried to learn Mahjongg and play some proper games, and it kind of somewhat worked out a bit, but not much, lol.

 

[BAN PUNCHER]

Shirtless and with a bottle of Yamazaki 12 Year Old Whisky.

 

[MegaApple]

As for Yakuza Kiwami, it actually has less stuff than 0 and is slightly shorter (makes sense as it's a remake of the first game. And it's actually to its benefit.

Just to main missions, side-stories, and only those activities you feel good doing.
If side activities frustrate you, then leave them. You won't miss much out for not getting few more cash, items or some sub-stories.

 

[Eriugam]

I'm very nearly done with Yakuza 0, finally, but I've really kind of blown through it and I know that a major strength of the Yakuza games is the side content. I barely did any real estate or cabaret work. I'm not so worried about it here because I've heard Kiwami 1 has a lot of the same side content as 0, but how do you play Yakuza games, MetaCouncil? Do you stop to play bowling with a chicken (or whatever) while your friends are being tortured, or do you do all the side content early so you can focus on the story when it hits the fan?

Play it at my own pace. With Yakuza 0 I focused a great deal on the real estate and cabaret side activities, gaining as much cash for upgrades as possible. Helps massively towards the end of the game and the various boss battles. Other than that, I just wonder around and stumble into quests and mini games, spend quite a bit of time playing the pool game.

 

[Teggy]

in games with minigames I always am distracted with mini games and forget about the main game, exactly like in rl.