I think Mirror Face [as Tendo] cooperates with Kasuga. The Tendo you fight is real and is the one who murdered Arakawa. Mirror Face is just some last-act asspull ticket to twist city. I assume you win Mirror Face over to your side in an unseen scene after the explosion in Chapter 14 (since he was there and you presumably help him escape. Mirror Face mysteriously disappears after the cops pull up as does Tendo and the writers become fixated on Aoki.
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hmm yeah that sounds like the only real explanation that makes sense.
So many plot threads that feel haphazardly thrown in there to patch over holes, or get forgotten about for 30 hours until they quickly throw in a resolution. I still enjoyed my time with it though, a sloppily written Yakuza game is still more entertaining than most of what else is out there.
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i’m only a ways into chapter 4 but i’ve just been consistently surprised that a big budget game full of sex workers and homeless folks doesn’t turn them into a one note joke (well some of the homeless-type enemy names are a bit much but outside of that it’s largely sympathetic) or treat sex workers as disposable fodder for pathos.
i was honestly expecting the subquest with the diaper fetish guys to be a like, “ha ha gawk at the degenerates” thing but they mostly just have fun with the inherent silliness of brawling with 4 belligerent yakuza babies wearing sunglasses & the dudes wind up giving the quest’s Overworked New Father NPC a bunch of pretty good advice about showing up to support his wife and communicate with her instead of retreating into overwork and resentment.
i mean, the whole subquest is humorous but only in the sense that kink is kind of funny out of context (i’m saying this as someone Into Kink, just not that particular one – i wouldn’t have minded any of mine having an arc in a similar tone fwiw) and the writers don’t judge the diaper bros or invite the audience to look down on them and ichiban’s initial confusion comes around to a live-and-let-live acceptance.
maybe this is normal for yakuza and i’ve just been missing out but considering the current AAA Discourse this is really fucking refreshing
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Finished LAD and enjoyed it all the way through. The fun and at times compelling story along with the breezy mechanics really hit the spot.
One of my lasting memories will be the end of the Mr Masochist quest where the couple is having some fun spank play in the middle of the street. There is a very particular spank sound they keep on using throughout the scene. I found the sound really funny.
As the party turns to walk away and the scene fades out they played the sound one more time and I lost it laughing. Both the overt humor and the idea of people working on the scene deciding that we needed one more really got me.
I’ve been looking for something to fill its place now that I’m done with it. Tempted to try the other Yakuzas but I 'm pretty sure the brawling mechanics would be a no go for me. Tried a few new things but not really finding anything. Might write a little in the Played Today thread about that
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I really think if you drop the difficulty down in the other Yakuza games they’re not that much different from Like a Dragon. I recommend giving 0 a shot and if you ain’t feeling it just get a refund!
Late game question: Did they ever save the sex workers who were going to get deported? I have no recollection of how that was resolved.
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IIRC Ichiban tells Hamako that the girls have been deported and that’s the end of that. Hamako shows up a couple of times later but they don’t say anything about this.
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I think the main things that are gonna keep me from finishing 7 are:
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the gear being intensely, intensely boring; getting better equipment does nothing half the time and the crafting requirements are ridiculous
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the lack of a replacement for the thumbtack move for efficient multi target damage in most battles. why do later characters not join with something like this???
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another way they force you to finish the management minigame innit
nanba’s default class and dealer also have good multi target damage i guess
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Got Yakuza 0 and Kiwami on xbox as they are on sale. All this LAD talk makes me want to take another crack at Y0
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Resumed playing 4 and holy shit the cutscenes are so long with so little happening!!
0, 6, 7, those are the winners in my opinion. 3 would be top if it was all dad stuff.
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i just said this sentence yesterday it was I LOVE 0 6 AND 7 SO MUCH AND I ALMOST LOVE 3. its cuz i want more dad stuff thats it
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I have Like a Dragon in my possession now do y’all have any strong feelings on subs vs dub?
I spent years complaining about how the games needed a dub cuz the cutscenes were paced so poorly I should be able to look at my phone while they played but I switched to japanese VA early on in this one
The dub is good though I recommend checking it out
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Outside of the stuntcasting the English dub is so good.
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It’s Ichiban’s Birthday.
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Maybe I’m being thick but what’s the dexterity stat for in this game?
Nevermind I got that now but does anyone have any tips for Job/Character combos, so far I’ve only changed Adachi over to the Foreman job which honestly seems like kind of a lateral move.
I’m up to the part after Nanba leaves the party and suddenly enemies that resist blunt attacks are becoming a problem that my party can’t deal with very effectively
get eri! she’s all slashing damage and she’s great.
most characters are best in their starting job with a few exceptions – adachi’s best job, by far, is enforcer, but you need to buy the shield from the gambling den under the river b/c you can’t get shields in regular shops and the default one is crap. saeko is also generally best as a dedicated healer (idol).
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Foreman didn’t seem worth it to me; Adachi’s riot cop job is very good and gets a single-target stun harpoon attack that’s brutal.
Breaker looks funny on any of these middle-aged gents but it’s terrifying on Kasuga, it buffs speed and attack and has very very good area-of-effect attacks.
Dominatrix is good on Saeko because it has a great area-of-effect spin attack.
Pay attention to the skills marked in red, “Character Skills” – that’s what gets unlocked across other jobs. Usually they’re pretty stingy and keep away the class’s best attacks, though.
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Kurohyou apparently has a main-line story patch out there now.
I think the voice acting in that game is pretty great and always meant to play the sequel and now I would be able to easily follow it.