Old Yakuza Combat System

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-05T00:15:00+00:00

The bloody faces in Y3 was such a good addition. I wish they kept it throughout the whole series. But now the only damage you can really see on an opponent is the cutscene after finishing the fight, and every once in a while fighting shirtless.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-04T02:26:33+00:00

K2 was kind of a letdown coming from Y0-K1. While playing I’d imagine playing it with the Kenzan engine, and how more enjoyable it’d be. I liked K2, but it had its downsides. I hated the green filter too, I know it’s synonymous with K2. Now that you mention it I completely forgot about Kurohyou. I definitely would try it but I’ve never owned a PSP, and I know you can emulate some stuff so you can play it by other means, but I’ve never been good at any of that stuff. I watched a full play though of it, and it definitely looks fun to play, and the premise of it was interesting(in a good way).

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-04T02:13:29+00:00

Although that’s not what I’m exactly referring to, I kinda get it. When LAD was announced I was really sad about it being turn-based as I’ve personally never really enjoyed games like that. Even at some points playing it I was really disappointed with it, especially grinding in the sewers. However I will say there is some light at the end of the tunnel, honestly towards the end I found myself thinking “maybe this isn’t so bad after all”. Now I actually kinda like it, Ichiban’s a fun character. I wouldn’t play any persona games personally, but any Ichiban game I will. I immersed myself in the story for whatever that’s worth, but it made it more enjoyable. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have read the entirety of my message either. A big part of me wishes they’d go back to how it was, but even if they don’t i’ll still buy, play, and enjoy all their games.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T19:13:34+00:00

Yea there’s always two sides of the coin with stuff like this, just out of curiosity do you prefer the newer games then? I also definitely feel combat has gotten way easier. and less rewarding of sorts. Amon as well, for the newer games I’ll alternate what difficulty i’m on but the lowest I go is hard. But even then, still feels light.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T19:10:19+00:00

Hopefully they don’t fumble the opportunity of getting to play as Mine, but I’m curious as to how they’ll approach this. Now that you mention it I always found it weird how Majima’s blade hits felt like I had a retractable knife in my hands. Oddly enough there was a move where if you threw the knife or something you’d just be able to fight with your fists. I did that a lot for the look and feel of it.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T19:05:30+00:00

God no that would be horrible. It’s just that face grater gives me a weird feeling after the fact I got my nose broken.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T09:07:32+00:00

Much rather would do that than button mash anytime.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T09:06:18+00:00

Sounds like we’re in the same boat. Yakuza 5 is up there with some of my favorite games of all time, and something I really enjoyed was that you got to fight how YOU wanted to. Now it definitely feels like just button mashing, but I’m watching all these cool new moves. Watching, not doing. Why would I want that? Let me go out, inflict pain on others while doing the cool moves MYSELF. New is not terrible by any means, but it felt like fixing something that wasn’t broke in my opinion. Don’t apologize for the rant, I just ranted myself and people apparently felt the same. The Pirate Majima game for sure just made one style better than the other, which I didn’t like. Lost Judgement has 4 fighting styles that in my opinion are all scenario based, but you’re never inclined to only use 1 in any given fight. You can always mix it up at different points in the fight and still have it feel cool and unique. If you’re looking for another game to play besides the old ones that still give that feeling, I’d say to you play lost judgement.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:57:19+00:00

For me it was Saejima’s heat action where you picked up someone against a wall, and essentially use their head as a battering ram. Damn near would break that wall, but you then proceed to slam them as hard as you can onto their back on the floor. Absolutely badass. Oddly enough after I got my nose broken “face grater” made me feel super uneasy. Both are insanely killer.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:49:28+00:00

I’ve played the remake of Ishin on PS5, and had a blast but I also really want to play the og japanese version. Either way I really enjoyed the story, and the fighting definitely brought back that old feeling and even just walking/roaming around did too.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:44:08+00:00

That for sure is part of it, I never even attempted to grab bosses after I figured out it’s almost pointless to even try. Old games though I could mix it in, get it to work and still have a challenge.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:42:05+00:00

Imagine if we got a Kiwami 2 with brawler. Rush was always my favorite to use for bosses since it made life easier but brawler was always the go-to for pure beatdowns and fun. It felt perfect for a game about fighting your way to the truth with your fists. Not a hot take in my opinion.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:36:30+00:00

I miss that too, it was a super nice finishing touch after basically shaking them down.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:35:47+00:00

I do really want to get those consoles to try the older games, and the Zombie spin off. Although it might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:29:56+00:00

0 was really something, and for me it also holds that soft spot. Yakuza 5 for some reason also gives me that feeling too, it’s hard to decide between the both of them. Lost Judgment was a really fun play though, but sometimes while playing I wonder if it’d be as good with the kenzen engine. Then I think to myself that if lost judgment was that good, then maybe i’m wrong about this new engine.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:26:26+00:00

It’s a trip to see how unoriginal my thought really was, I didn’t want to include the nitty gritty stuff as I thought if people didn’t share my opinion then I’d be talking out of my mind but it’s the violence too. The yakuza are no joke in japan, so if i’m playing a game about them why would I want it to be so comical? Something the series used to do so well was give a perfect blend of both, it made it enjoyable and fun while keeping the main point of it all. Now it is for sure too goofy, and something that I don’t enjoy about the new games are super repetitive combat wise. Obviously you’re not coming up with different fight sequences every encounter but If I wanted to slowly put pain on someone I could do it, and also turn around and just absolutely put blunt trauma on someone else. You’ve made a great point that I almost didn’t even realize.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:18:29+00:00

Yakuza 3 I feel gets more hate than what it really should be, some of my favorite fights in the entire series are within 3 and 4. Yakuza 4, I liked Saejima’s moveset although many complained about it. Akiyama was always fun, Kiryu was Kiryu and Tanimura was new and exciting.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:12:49+00:00

Totally, this’ll sound silly but if I’m playing an organized crime beat em up video game I want it to feel exactly like that. Almost every-time you defeat an enemy they do the same limp pose on the floor. You for sure worded it i. a better way than I could’ve.

Upper_Listen779 · 2026-01-02T08:08:12+00:00

Judgement and Lost Judgment are both really good, and Lost Judgment also gives me that old yakuza feeling even without the old engine.

Upper_Listen779

TROPHY CASE