The Yakuza team wants to do this actually. They also once said they'd like to do a 3-5 collection afterwards. Don't remember how long ago that was though.
Well, if 6 is the final game in the series, and they want to keep milking this cow, then a Yakuza 2 remake seems like the next step. Then again, they have continued the series despite it having gotten an ending before.
Reviews for Yakuza 0 are incredible positive so far. Probably the best reception the series has gotten so far.
For some reason I find the Yakuza games hard to follow. It's fun as hell beating people up, but I lost track of what I was doing in Yakuza 1, and then I decided I would just try a later Yakuza game that was a bit more refined. Which...I found hard to do, because there's a bunch of things I don't understand going on. I guess I'm asking for a recommendation. I nibbled Yakuza 1 and liked it. Which one should I try next? And also a plot synopsis that doesn't require 3 hours of Wikia trawling to unravel would be perf. EDIT: LOL NEVERMIND. I should've pieced together that Yakuza Kiwami is basically exactly what I need to get back into the series. Don't mind me, just the resident idiot doing his thing.
Yakuza 0 might actually be a better place to start. It's a prequel to the first game, and iirc Kiwami adds stuff that references 0. It also seems to be one of the best games in the series yet, at least going by how positive reviewers are about it.
Playing the shit out of 0. So far I actually prefer 4, which is the only other game I've played (not counting Dead Souls, which is basically a mod for 4). That isn't saying much, though, since I really love this one too.
I did a thing about this game. Good lord I cannot wait for Kiwami now. Here's hoping there's a way to play 2 - 5 on PS4 before 6 comes out (PSNow....?)
On that note my biggest gripe about the game is the clear liberties they took with the translation. Localization is a meme that needs to die.
They made a reference you wouldn't have noticed unless it was pointed out to you, get over it. Also whining about localizations not being literal translations is so 2016.
If it were the only clear evidence that the translators were taking egregious liberties with the dialogue I really wouldn't care. Easter eggs are one thing. Sloppy translations are another. 2016? Calling out the shitty choices SEGA makes went out of style when the Dreamcast died. I'm just beating a horse on life support like the rest of this community. That said, I think you'll be disappointed if you think people hating shit translations and (in worse cases than this) censorship being brushed under the rug of "localization" is going to go away with 2016.
"Egregious liberties" are normal with localization, and have been normal for basically forever. If they didn't the script wouldn't make as much sense to English audiences. It's not worth having literal translations for the few internet whiners who care way too much about this stuff when it's going to result in a way worse script for the majority. It's fine as long as they match the original tone and intention of the scene. And I wasn't saying calling out SEGA's shitty choices went out of style last year. Super petty complaints about "shit" translations and censorship did though. I'm sure that the people who looked way too hard for stuff to make petty complaints about last year will keep complaining, but people already stopped giving a shit about them halfway through last year after "vagina bones".
And then you pair this with adding references. Fucking seriously? And yeah, people didn't stop caring about censorship just because someone on the internet doesn't know how to properly articulate that someone made a model less anatomically correct just because this pleases the puritans in the US. Look, translation is an art. It is an art that when done well resembles realism and not impressionism. This means that you want to come as close to the source material as is possible while understanding that you are working with a different medium than what you are recording. The fact that some lowest common denominator tier idiots may not be able to grasp the concept of cultural differences is not a good excuse to just shit all over a script with memes, in jokes, and awkward internet tier lingo. That is unless you genuinely think anyone outside of the tumblrsphere squeed in glee when Majima uttered the phrase "shakedown shit lord" among other really odd choices. I'd also like to point out that the translation itself is the only thing in Yakuza that takes this kind of drection. Most of it is trying to keep the game's feel as close to the Japanese original as possible, because the setting itself is extremely Japanese.
Thing is: I don't get most of those references and they don't stick out to me at all. I think they fit in with the rest of the game's dialogue. I never watched Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, so I have no idea what that line is referencing, it just looks like an usual line of dialogue to me. The only time the game's script referencing internet humour has stuck out to me was when Majima said "cool story bro", but that has been the only time and it only sticks out to me because I've seen it used online. All of the references fit in with the characters' usual dialogue. Especially in the already crazy side quests. Besides, the game already features Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg parodies, a chicken who's a financially savvy manager, and a dominatrix being taught in front of a bunch of innocent children. The added in jokes and references are not nearly as odd as the stuff that was in the game to begin with. And those "lowest common denominator tier idiots" for who the cultural differences would cause issues for are most people.
Quirky sidequests and out of place dialogue are two different things. Let's not conflate them. Well, are most people going to be interested in a Japanese game with a Japanese setting and topics dealing heavily with Japanese culture with awkward localization? Yakuza is a niche game to begin with. Sloppy translations aren't going to help. Also, I'd like to think most people would be open to being subtly informed about other cultures rather than having them glossed over with memes.
Except they're not even that glossed over. They still heavily reference the locations, culture, and era. It just doesn't depend on the player already knowing those things. It's not like they Ace Attorney'd it and replaced ramen with hamburgers. The localisation even uses Japanese honorifics, something that wasn't done in previous Yakuza localisations. And again: the references just look like regular dialogue if you don't get them. The reviewers praising the localisation sure as fuck didn't get a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. It seems like your problem is more with them having added references at all than it is with them not fitting in.
My problem is I know what a good translation looks like and this isn't it. They did a better job with some of the other games in the series. I feel like I'm having to exaggerate how bad it is just to prove a point, but it is black spot on an otherwise alright game.
Yakuza Kiwami launching August 29th for $29.99. The steelbook and standard editions are the same price. Steelbook edition: https://www.amazon.com/Yakuza-Kiwami-PlayStation-4-Steelbook/dp/B06Y5Y9T8V/ Standard edition: https://www.amazon.com/Yakuza-Kiwami-PlayStation-4-Standard/dp/B06Y5YYCQW/