Loved Judgment. Seeing as I have zero desire to play another turn-based Yakuza game after the utter chore that was Like a Dragon I'm more than happy with this. The new features look excellent, Yokohama being a location in the game was something I was expecting, and I'm guessing the dancing minigame is pretty much a replacement for karaoke (seeing as the budget might not stretch to that). Let's just hope they make the tailing missions a bit less tedious this time!
Can't wait! Judgment has the only action combat in the Yakuza series that actually has a tiny bit of challenge thanks to guns and special moves cutting your maximum health. The first game also had arguably the best story out of all the RGG Studio games I've played so I'm excited to see what's in store for the sequel. (Though knowing Yakuza, I feel I should keep my expectations low on that front.) Also hell yeah, simultaneous global release!
That second video is demanding age verification, so here's one that doesn't: I'm sure once upon a time you could just fill in your date of birth to get past the admin. Seems Google now wants either credit card details, or scans of real documents... to watch a video game trailer. Yeah, no.
I mean Yakuza games are consistently good so seeing Sega pump out quality games like this is honestly pretty refreshing, even if I don't have too much interest in the series at the moment.
Just... why just this stuff? What about all those other series they used to make, why not bring them back, or hell try something new, and by new I don't mean more realistic looking games where male Japanese protagonist (hell try a female protagonist even, I like having the option at least) fights other Japanese people. But instead it's just Yakuza, Yakuza, Yakuza spinoff, Yakuza modern gen bundle, Yakuza, Yakuza spinoff 2 (throw in Puyo stuff here and there). If you like Yakuza great I guess but I mean is there any sense of burnout among fans or hell even the developers? They just keep shitting these out surely at some point it's enough? Also, I see Sega is perfectly capable of modern gen bundles from the last generation. They can't just throw enhanced Colors, Unleashed, and Generations into one package? Instead we might maybe be getting just colors. Idk, modern Sega barely interests me. If it's Sonic or one of their series from like 95 to 05, I might be interested. This? Not even in the slightest. That goes for their other modern series like Total War and Football Manager too.
They've been back over the last few years. Streets of Rage 4, a new Space Channel 5, a new Daytona USA and House of the Dead in the arcades, a new Virtual-On game and HD collection (only in Japan, admittedly), a Panzer Dragoon 1 remake with 2 on the way, House of the Dead 1 and 2 remakes on the way, a great Chu Chu Rocket sequel on Apple Arcade, a new Sakura Wars game, something is coming from Virtua Fighter soon (probably just a rerelease of 5, but it's a start), a new Phantasy Star Online thing, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting. If these don't interest you, that's fine, and a fair few of these are licensed out, but to say that it's just Yakuza coming out is just inaccurate. EDIT: Remembered Valkyria Chronicles 4. This is also setting aside the other great original games that have come out like 13 Sentinels, Two Point Hospital, etc.
That's where the wrench comes in. Because technically SoR 4 and I think the Panzer Dragoon remake have nothing to do with Sega. Are they just shedding franchises now because they have no future interest in them, or do they still technically own those series? Because if it's the former that concerns me, if it's the latter, well fair enough I guess. Do the HotD remakes follow the same guidelines as SoR 4 and Panzer Dragoon? But ok fair enough, Sega's supporting some things (even if I'll never get the opportunity to play any of their Arcade titles since those barely exist in the US anymore, I don't have an Apple device so there goes anything with Apple Arcade, and PSO that's been out for years in JP before coming over here, so I'm not sure what their active participation is with that). At least for consoles then that leaves Sakura Wars (pass for me), Virtua Fighter 5 in some form (I do kinda miss that one), and Valkyria Chronicles 4 (tried the 1st one, couldn't get into it). Guess it's just not my time for Sega stuff. Ah well. Doesn't help I'm just bored out of my mind lately and am just itching for something new to play
I think everyone who fully knows what Sega were once like has to try to not judge what they're doing now by that, but by the same token it's inaccurate to claim that they're doing nothing. In an ideal world they'd be doing even more, yeah - I'd hope we're all aware there's obvious reasons which prevent that though. They might not be doing anything that you in particular want, but for the past five years Sega have objectively had a quite good track record among many critics and consumers, and several series brought back in action either by themselves or others are a part of that.
Re: HOTD in particular, they don't have anything to do with the remakes, but Scarlet Dawn is still in the recent memory (and is at most Dave & Busters and Round1 centres in the US), a downscaled upright cabinet was recently discovered to be sold in South Korea, and a special attraction version was made for Tokyo Joypolis last year. I'd say they're still interested. In fairness, they're not exactly making it the most accessible to people in the west like a lot of their arcade output these days, but it's been that way for years now, and even then there's more places up to play them than before (Round1s, independent venues who import machines, etc)
Anyone else find this promotional image absolutely hilarious? I can't explain it, but it almost looks like a meme or something. Or as if someone just photoshopped two hands prying open a door.
If only fucking Stadia wasn't holding up the PC release of the first one. And yeah, of course I'm excited. I love the Yakuza series and what I guess is now the Kamurochoverse. But yes the Goatse edit needs to happen.
Intro and Theme Song has been revealed. Didn't embed because the video is age-restricted and won't properly show outside of YouTube. Wasn't impressed with the song at first, but after a few listens it grew on me. As for the actual intro...yeah, not a huge fan honestly. I don't like how much the characters are just staring into the camera while in empty scenery. It reminds me of a lot of generic anime intros. The first game did it aswell, but I was able to forgive it for the most part because of the theming surrounding the intro in relation to the actual game. Maybe it's the same here, but for now I'm just 'meh' on it.