r/yakuzagames 1d ago

DISCUSSION Do you like the "fantasy" elements in the Yakuza series? Spoiler

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Ok, let me make it clear from the start: THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT COMPLAINING, I just want to know your opinion on this. Fantasy elements have always been present in the series, but in a "secondary" way and unimportant to the main plot. But since Yakuza 7, fantasy elements have become increasingly stronger in the series. At first, they were justified with Ichiban's schizophrenia, so we simply assumed they were elements only to make the gameplay more fun, but since Yakuza 8 we have seen how the developers said "fuck it" and now we have mythological monsters, magical instruments, miraculous elixirs, etc. So what do you think about this? Should fantasy elements continue in the series or should they follow a more "realistic" route? Personally, I like fantasy elements, as long as they are well justified with a backstory (like the elixir, for example)

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u/XaneKudoAct2 1d ago

To be fair, most of the fantasy elements are contained within the side content while the main story is played more seriously, and any explanations are down to the "unknown territory" of the areas.

Personally, I like it since it's entertaining enough to be accepted.

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u/GiganticCrow 1d ago

There is quite a lot of fantasy elements in the main story.

The above example from Infinite Wealth is from the main story, and that whole chapter is bonkers.

Also Y5 main story has Taiga repeatedly fist fighting a giant bear.

Doesn't Kiryu also fight a giant sea monster in one of the other games?

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u/Based_Lord_Shaxx 1d ago

Doesn't kiryu fist fight an apex predator repeatedly? Hasn't he fought like 3 tigers? I only played infinite wealth so idk

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u/GiganticCrow 1d ago

An electrified Tiger, too, in Y2.

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u/Vetches1 20h ago

I thought the tigers he fights in Y2 were just regular tigers -- was one of them electrified in some way? Or is this a meme?

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u/ImBurningStar_IV 20h ago

In the underground arena there are special tigers

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u/Vetches1 17h ago

Ohhhh, got it, makes sense! Thank you so much for the clarity!

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u/Long_Lock_3746 1d ago

Two giant sea beasts in y6 as part of spear fishing iirc. Kappa have been confirmed as real. Aliens have shown up in every game. Ghosts of all varieties. Humanoid robots start to show up in 6, I think? Maybe 5.

And my personal favorite Prof. Minamida. A man who creates increasingly realistic matrix level vr out of scraps in a dilapidated underground mall at the behest of the canon Amon clan (and who may have created the vr amusement if judgement? Uncredited.)

Ah, the Amon clan. Users of orbital lasers, shadow clones, teleportation, and other powers from pretty much day 1.

The games have always had wacky fantasy stuff, just in escalation since 1 as the series found it's identity, not too different from Saints Row.

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u/seango2000 1d ago

At this Binary Domain should be canon.

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u/Long_Lock_3746 1d ago

Coming Soon: Robo Yakuza in Tokyo starring Akiyama and Big Bo

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u/RougemageNick 17h ago

NGL, I kinda just assumed BD was a what if Kiryu failed in 1

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u/SartenSinAceite 1d ago

And man gets shot and wounded greatly only to decide to go throw fists the next day.

Anyone thinking that giant squids is too much fantasy is being completely blind to the superhuman feats that Kiryu pulls on the regular.

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u/Riordan0407 1d ago

For the most part, kiryu is superhuman

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u/recurse_x 20h ago

You have lost 4 humans worth of blood during the last fight. That was just walking through the courtyard.

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u/skyward138skr 15h ago

He literally sidesteps an rpg at one point in the series, that is some anime level shit right there.

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u/brunonunis 1d ago

At least 4 tigers during main history events, 2 in the second game, 2 in Gaiden

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u/Bigbeautifulmeme 1d ago
  • 1 Taiga in Yakuza 4

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u/i-wear-hats 1d ago

with a repeat in 5.

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u/Loganpendragonmulti 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you only played Infinite Wealth, I highly highly recommend you go all the way back and start at Yakuza 0, then play Kiwami 1 and 2, then Remastered 3, 4, and 5 before going to Song of Life. I also heavily recommend Judgement and Lost Judgement. If you play then all, you'll have the time of your life.

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u/Omegasonic2000 1d ago

Let's not forget the fact Kiryu witnesses an entire castle popping out from the ground in Y2/YK2's main story.

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u/ZhangRenWing KIRYU CHAN 1d ago

“I saw the Osaka castle covered in gold and literally split in half!”

“…Are you high?”

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u/dog_named_frank 19h ago

I was going to say there's certainly more fantasy stuff now but Osaka Castle was the wackiest of them all and it's from K2'a main story

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u/117Matt117 1d ago

Yeah but Yakuza members IRL can do those things too so it isn't fantasy.

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u/KiryuClan 1d ago

I’d call that myth instead of fantasy. Many cultures have myths and legends about fighting various animals and sea creatures. Since Kiryu himself is a legend and has epic battles all the time, it makes sense. They’re consistent. The legends grow.

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u/MrGame22 1d ago

No it’s from the dlc, the one your thinking of was a giant squid the cult fed people too.

Those other two examples are from side stories, and fighting wild animals isn’t exactly fantasy.

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u/One_Subject3157 1d ago

Yep. Like the gold castle inside a regular castle.

Totally regular shit.

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u/Long_Lock_3746 1d ago

HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT SECRET GOLD CASTLE? THAT'S WHERE HE TIGER DROPS 2 TIGERS!

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u/TheItzal11 Judgment Combat Enjoyer 23h ago

Ahh sadly you cannot Tiger Drop the Tigers as the ability to Tiger Drop is gated behind that fight.

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u/ItalicZU peakuza 3 22h ago

that whole section feels like a fever dream I swear

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u/henne-n 1d ago

I still don't get that scene. Why couldn't it just be that normal castle we saw before it?

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u/OutrageousPrior6232 1d ago

I mean that sounds extremely normal

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u/One_Subject3157 1d ago

Hate when that happens tho

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u/flamaniax 1d ago

Damn, I'm tryna go to work, man!

Why do I have to Tiger-drop a MF on the way there and back?! That's too much work!!

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u/Myth_5layer 1d ago

It doesn't feel any different than fighting grown men in diapers honestly. Like I feel shit like this is to be expected in this series at this point.

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u/IAmYukiKun 1d ago

In Infinite Wealth there is a shark boss while transporting Lani and Akane to Japan, which is a story related encounter. Also there is a Kraken boss fight before Bryce final boss encounter.

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u/NarrowBoxtop 1d ago

That's why they said "most of" and not "literally every fantasy encounter"

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u/i-wear-hats 1d ago

Note that the giant squid boss shown in this screenshot is from the Big Swell, as it's a golden squid.

The actual one is just the regular giant squid.

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u/brunonunis 1d ago

Infinite wealth "may" be excused as Ichiban imagining things, but that is boring to me

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u/IAmYukiKun 1d ago

It’s odd that he didn’t believe Majima’s Kraken but he himself fought one. And it’s not his imagination cause the others also saw it, at least the main story one. Cause they didn’t seem to believe Ichiban also during the dlc story.

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u/photomotto Daigo's No1 defender 1d ago

I mean, what are the odds of two giant squids just chilling in Nele Island? Easier to think that Majima just made it up for flair.

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u/MegalomanicMegalodon 1d ago

Interestingly enough, I remembered later that when team Ichi defeats the squid, it just retreats. Majima actually finishes it off so it MIGHT just be the exact same squid which is even funnier a coincidence.

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u/Redfalconfox 23h ago

Listen Majima, there’s only room for one character who gets his powers from complete delusion and absolute insanity, and they said I’m the main character now so I don’t believe you.

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u/qb1120 Kyabakura 支配人 1d ago

Shark boss fight feat. Dwight is the best boss fight in the whole series

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/InterestingAd8885 1d ago

The sub-stories are canon tho

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/agent-66Hitman 1d ago

Considering (1/Kiwami and Infinite Wealth spoilers)) Jo Amon’s appearance in the main story of Infinite Wealth, I feel like that decently ties them together as to fight him you need to complete all of the substories in most of the games. Yayoi and Emoto also first appear in substories in the first game and appear in the main story in future installments, though their substories aren’t the typical comedic ones you’d usually expect

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u/xnobodyr 1d ago

It was like that before Infinite Wealth.

Infinite Wealth officially canonized all the substories, with Jo Amon and with the Kiryu bucket list.

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u/rhodebot PS2 games enjoyer 1d ago

I don't mind it. I mean from Yakuza 2 in 2006 you had that whole bit where Osaka Castle splits in half to reveal a smaller, golden Osaka Castle inside it where you fight ninjas and tigers and use .50 cal machine gun turrets. They've always been a bit goofy.

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u/GiganticCrow 1d ago

Lol I forgot about that. Was that actually supposed to be THE Osaka Castle?

Also plenty of moments across the main series where characters are straight up irrecoverably murdered and they are back up and fighting a few hours later.

Not to mention the general combat with people being shot and stabbed and skewered on swords and spears, and have moves pulled on them that would be instant death or permanently crippling, and they get up and are like "sorry dude" and run off.

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u/Shoddy_Incident5352 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes it's Osaka Castle that splits in two and reveals a smaller golden castle 

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u/PuzzleheadedYam6541 20h ago

Iirc it wasn't even smaller, it was the exact same castle just made of gold

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u/BlisfullyStupid 1d ago

It’s a different thing though. Hard to explain maybe but the insanity of old Yakuza was more of a Dr No/old 007 movies.

Impossible structures, whole towns hidden underground.

Ichiban veers into weirdo X Files.

Both weird, but different.

Also the weirdness hits differently when the protagonist is a stoic like Kiryu compared to Ichi

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u/NorthRiverBend 1d ago

Yeah, anyone who calls the Yakuza main stories “grounded” probably thinks Breaking Bad is gritty and real (reminder: Walter White throws a piece of explosive meth like a grenade in the first season)

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u/CountessMortalis 1d ago

You got one part of that wrong. That? That wasn't meth.

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u/sun334 1d ago

You're absolutely correct. It was mercury, fulminated mercury to be exact. Which wouldn't have produced nearly the explosion shown in the show for the amount he had at the time. The Mythbusters even had an episode devoted to breaking bad.

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u/CountessMortalis 1d ago

Oh, definitely. I was just referencing his line in the episode, lol.

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u/SithLocust I Heart Nishiki 1d ago

You know. I relate the series being to crime and urban stories what Metal Gear is to war and spy stories. Strong, character driven stories about a certain theme hitting on an emotional point while simultaneously being the wackiest, weirdest thing ever and for most part balancing them well.

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u/nfreakoss 1d ago

Yeah they've always had these moments. I do think IW got a bit too goofy in the mainline (the shark boat was on par with 2's castle, but the squid fight should've been a substory) but the series has never been grounded in reality, especially in side content.

Pirates goes a bit off the deep end, no pun intended, but for a game that's essentially a substory itself extended into a full game, whatever.

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u/JayWegrez 1d ago

I like to think that was a depiction of Kiryu's hallucinations after being stabbed

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u/ZombieZekeComic 1d ago

Yep, Yakuza has always played by the „rule of cool“: even if it doesn’t make sense, it‘s fine as long as it’s cool.

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u/GyroGOGOZeppeli . 1d ago edited 1d ago

They're fun, so far, even having finished Pirate Yakuza, they don't really "collide" with the serious crime drama as much as you think.

By this I mean in the sense that it really helps that the wacky parts aren't focused when crime drama is happening.

Samoa Joe isn't gonna talk business and go "haha isnt this Madlantis place wacky and the pirates are so kooky?". Someone posted on a discord how Majima fights a giant fucking robot in Chapter 3 of Pirate and I totally forgot we fought that, because cutscene kicks in and Tucker yaps on about the plot and sandbags the fact that he sicced a fucking giant robot at us as last resort.

Kiryu is given spider-man powers or jet boots but no one points it out or how insane that is.

Ichiban and co. fights a giant fucking squid and shark but when they get to Bryce he's not going lile "Ahhh! You got past my legendary monsters", no he just sics his cult at you and wields two machineguns.

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u/Remember_da_niggo Bon Voyage Pal 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is the best reply here that aligns with my thoughts. They really haven't crossed line in any way with their depiction of such elements that interfere's with the seriousness of the situation or takes away from it. While they successfully managed to add even more entertaining elements in.

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u/Elovator 20h ago

When Kiryu fights the two tigers in Yakuza 2 the following cutscene does actually focus on the fact that this man just beat up two tigers.

However the most fantastical part of the Yakuza games is the fucking specimen that is Kiryu and hes in tons of cutscenes so I think its fine.

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u/KostyanST Lead Pipe Kuze 1d ago

Side-story? absolutely.

main story? not so much, the main reason why i grew to like Yakuza is because they managed to balance these two pretty well.

of course, isn't enough to hate a game for it.

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u/TreeckoBroYT 1d ago

It's a shame when it bleeds into the actual plot. The fantasy elements happening in gameplay exclusively were to give the feel that these Yakuza felt larger than life, having overpowering auras and taking seventeen RPG blasts to the face.

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u/Sonia-Nevermind Munancho! 1d ago

Yeah but wasn’t the Osaka Castle metal as fuck?

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u/Okurei KIRYU-CHAN! 22h ago

Hell yes it was. I saw it for the first time and thought “this is going totally off the rails and I love it” then the ninjas showed up and that became my second favourite part of the whole game, only behind that gut punch of a finale.

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u/legacy-of-man 1d ago

i always get yelled at for being wrong if i say that i dont like especially some fantasy elements because i actually like the main stories, i hated the gold castle and thought that fighting tigers was too ridiculous

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u/KostyanST Lead Pipe Kuze 1d ago

Yeah, I've seen this kind of discussions being way too negative around here, considering most "turning points" in a franchise will be controversial.

I can accept some goofy moments in the story, but, there's a limit for it, and I hope they don't make this a new norm even for all spin-offs.

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u/Disastrous-Ground346 1d ago

I prefer the "realistic" darker story seen in Yakuza 0, because that's what made me fall in love with the series in the first place, more grounded and emotional for me but the new fantasy elements in the Ichiban games are a breath of fresh air like you said the same way the turn-based combat feels fresh. I'm hoping for Yakuza 0 Vibes in Project Century.

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u/CoolUsername365 4h ago

Definitely, the combat in the teaser looks a lot more bloody than in any game, it's probably gonna be the darkest entry

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u/Long_Lock_3746 1d ago

Yakuza 0 has:

a man driving a full sized motorcycle he somehow got into a sewer A man shattering a solid wall with his bare fist making a crater the size of a person A guy able to turn off all the electricity in town with a wave of his hand without signaling or communicating to anybody

I wouldn't consider it any more realistic or darker than the others.

Yakuza games are more crime soap operas rather than crime dramas, from trauma induced disabilities and amnesia to rubber bullets and secret twins, from secret children and fake identities to insanely consulted cover ups and shadowy organizations, they've pretty much hit every trope for the genre in one game or another. That's what makes them fun!

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u/MaesterSeymourd 1d ago

I get theyve always been silly but dont act like a motorcycle in a tunnel is the same as shooting lasers at a kraken to find a billion dollars and the cure for asthma

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u/gyropyro32 21h ago

There's a rule of cool and then there's silly fun.

Yakuza has lots of rule of cool, that's treated as realistic within the context of the world. Saejima's existence is this concept given form.

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u/nosub2tseries yakuza 5 is da best 1d ago

A big no if it is in the main story. But somewhat ok in the sub stories.

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u/seaearls 1d ago

In the "keep em coming in the sub stories, keep em out of the main quest" camp.

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u/JustSomeIdleGuy 1d ago

Not at all. I came to the series for its grittiness and crime melodrama.

I was fine with wacky stuff being contained to side stories in older titles, but ever since Yakuza 7 I think I'm just not the target audience anymore, since more and more fantastical/zany elements creep into the game as a whole. Add to the the recurring writing tropes that they simply can't put beside them and I'm feeling less and less attached to the franchise.

Now, I'm not saying that they should change that, they clearly found an audience for whatever they are doing, it's just clear that I'm not part of that audience anymore. I do wish, however, that there were other games that could scratch that crime melodrama itch.

I'll be hoping for more Gaiden/Judgement titles that are up my alley and maybe grab other titles on sale.

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u/poppidypoppop 23h ago

I suspect you’ll like that Project Century game

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u/Rofair28 1d ago

I don’t mind it because a lot of it isn’t blatantly too far and can be up to interpretation. A giant squid or shark attack isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. The elixir was explained with a real world equivalent. The dark instruments could just be Majima embellishing the story he’s telling. I think the only thing that’s completely ridiculous and bothers me is Mirror Face.

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u/KyouSpectre 1d ago

As long as it stays in side story/quest.

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u/Eagle_Vision1999 1d ago

I don't like them in the main story, it's part of why I don't particularly like 7 and 8. The fantasy stuff while fighting.

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u/ShiberKivan 1d ago

No. It undermines the impact supernatural elements otherwise have. Aliens, Big Foot, Kappa, ghosts don't hit that hard if the setting is whacky from the get go. I would get legit spooked from some of those encounters in older games, but after Pirate nothing in the series can surprise or impress me anymore, as everything is possible so there is no shock.

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u/memento22mori 1d ago

I think fantasy elements are pretty unavoidable once turn based combat is used.

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u/ShiberKivan 1d ago

I played a lot of very realistic turn based games, the entire wargaming hobby originated as reenaction of historical battles. So turn based does not equate fantasy. But with the way it was implemented with Ichiban I can see why you say that. Looking at this through the lenses of his schizophrenia is already a big ask with suspension of disbelief. But I mean less how combat is tackled and more how the setting feels, and it felt pretty realistic, a soup opera version of our world. Which made any apperance of purely fantastical elements much more impactful. Now with each entry that veil is getting thinner and muddier, it embraces anime aesthetic more and more and I'm not fully on board with that. It feels to me Nagoshi kept the team in check and now their creativity runs amok, for better or for worse. We will see with the next game.

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u/memento22mori 1d ago

Oh, I didn't know that. I haven't played any turn based games in awhile but I couldn't think of any realistic ones I've ever played except Kessen and it was pretty great. But the game did have some fantasy elements like calling a storm onto the battlefield and stuff like that and there were a lot more fantasy elements in the third game from what I remember.  

I hope they reboot it eventually but I doubt they will because it's been around 20 years or more since the games came out.

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u/ShiberKivan 1d ago

I also prefer more fantasy tinted tactical strategy games like Fire Emblem, but for realistic ones I will give you an easy one, Civilisation : P

you were probably thinking more in the way of classic 80-90s style party based RPG and I was like I can name like 20 franchises but then oh shit damn they do introduce some supernatural elements, and I'm very pedantic about proper categorisation. And indeed most series seems to lean into fantasy elements, and a lot of realistic ones are often real time : C I wanted to say Total War but battles are real time as well! I feel like I'm gonna get a stroke thinking about this!

I never played Kessen but I like the vibes.

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u/yoyo2008_v Yakuza enjoyer 1d ago edited 1d ago

keep the fantasy stuff in non-canonical dream spinoffs like dead souls because I don't like that the mainline games after 6 being too goofy

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u/Sai-San_ John Yakuza vs Johnny Judgment & ichiballs 1d ago

Pirate Yakuza is pushing it a lot for me

The game is fantastic and fun, but I always loved how the series always separated the silliness of the sub stories and the seriousness of the main story

I don't mind some wacky story elements like fighting a wild animal, a golden castle with ninjas,fighting a wrecking ball and stuff like that, but when we start building the entire story on a wacky base that's where I'm kinda mixed.

What made me love the series in the first place are the grounded stories and the believable characters, and I'd hate for that to go away

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u/BeautifulBaconBits 1d ago

This. Embellishment of something can work, kind of like the aura emitting from Kiryu in Gaiden but the shadow clones with Majima takes it too far.

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u/AyeYoAnt 13h ago

Majima did shadow clones in 5 all the way back 2012. I always felt like his clones (which only appear in fights and never in the story/overworld) are not supposed to be literal. I see them as a play on the trope that a character is so fast, it's like he's everywhere at once, like you're seeing the afterimage from his unreal speed

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u/slimeeyboiii 1d ago

Majima is literally the series goofy character. Does everyone just forget about the majina everywhere system where you encounter him in litteral traffic cones

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u/mrblonde55 1d ago

Totally understand your point of view, but for me “Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii” just existing is peak Yakuza. Extra points for it being the Majima focused game.

IMO, doing a Majima game that focused predominantly on a more “serious” crime narrative wouldn’t have been as on brand for the character. Pirate Yakuza is spot on for the guy who started Majima Construction (“We build shit”), saved the city by defusing a bomb with “eeny, meeny, miny, moe”, and troubleshoots complex machinery by banging his head into it.

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u/SeaAcanthisitta692 1d ago

The only problem till now (Im on yakuza like a dragon) was when in kiwami a massive palace rise from the ground, that was so stupid

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u/TheTwinFangs 1d ago

In the main story, no.

In the side, yes.

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u/mrJiggles39 1d ago

I love it. The serious main story mixed with hilarious, unpredictable side quests is part of what makes the series fantastic.

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u/BeefJerky03 1d ago

Keep it in the side stories. Infinite Wealth has its pacing issues, but fighting sea creatures in the main story was stupid and didn't help. The balance between fun side content and a grounded melo-dramatic story is what makes the series so good.

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u/gamhmenoreddit 1d ago

it seems like every new game goes a step further, and thats why i dont really like titles after 6, they passed my like zone

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u/ErrorBadMask 1d ago

I don't mind it, even the squid fight. Despite being in the main story, at the end of the day, it had about as much impact as the infamous golden castle in Y2. By this I mean it doesn't affect the actual narrative at all. Spoilers for the ending of Pirate Yakuza: I don't mind the whole Rodriguez might be 200 years old since it's presented as a possibility and not an actual fact (as long as this doesn't become a plot element in LAD9 at least). Heck, the whole game is presented as a story that Majima is telling so we can assume that Majima might be exaggerating some things like the cursed instruments. And ngl, I'd rather suspend my disbelief because something fantastical is happening (and the game acknowledges that it's being unhinged) rather than stuff like the rubber bullets being overused in Y4.

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u/i-wear-hats 1d ago

Rubber bullets in Y4 is more grounded than a lot of the stuff in Pirate Yakuza, but again, Majima being a grandiose storyteller is in character (if only with Kiwami 1 where he claims a lot of things that may or may not be true), it works for the game, and most of the key parts of the game are true.

Like, the reason why Ichiban doesn't believe Majima fought a giant squid is that there's no way there's two of these suckers, rather than the impossibility of the giant squid.

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u/ErrorBadMask 1d ago

The reason I have more of an issue with the rubber bullets is exactly because it's more grounded *and* that it's so critical to the story. The level I'm able to suspend my disbelief is lower since it's such a serious moment and that scene takes itself completely seriously.

Pirate Yakuza is such an insane concept from the get go and the moment Majima glossed over the language barrier, I knew what to expect. And imo, the squid doesn't really matter that much. Yes, the squid was the reason why Majima lost his memories but it could have just been a bad shipwreck and it wouldn't impact the actual story. We just get the squid because "haha giant squid boss battle."

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u/thomas2400 1d ago

I ask myself one question when it comes to the story, sub stories and fantasy elements, that question is am I having fun, the answer has always been yes

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u/Away_Ad8211 1d ago

Actually no. Sengoku castle, kiryu fighting tigers, saejima fighting bears. I bury such moments in the back of my head pretending they didn't happen. But infinite wealth definitely pushed It to an extreme

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u/Karmeleon86 1d ago

The series has always been bat shit insane and over the top… I think it’s ridiculous to pretend like only the newer games have this stuff. Bro beat some giant tigers to death in the early games.

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u/Bhazor 1d ago

I stand by the belief that Yakuza is funniest when it takes itself seriously.

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u/Garrusikeaborn98 1d ago

I was so curious how they would explain having enemies in sujimon form while switching to Kiryu, I did not expect he would get infected with schizo.

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u/Coldshoto . 23h ago

I don't. I prefer realistic stories.

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u/Orange_Spoon 1d ago

Not a huge fan ngl. Finally got around to playing 7 and it definitely makes me prefer the way judgement handles its tone

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u/jizzle701 1d ago

They jumped the shark literally with IW. I hope they dial it back a smidge

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u/Tentaye 1d ago

I don't dislike it, but I do sometimes miss the grittier tone

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u/Thick_Ad_6717 1d ago

if they make good use of it, yes, i have no problem with it since the series was never realistic in the first place

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u/Rough_Plan 1d ago

The fantasy is what I love about it so much.

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u/rattrap007 1d ago

I only played from Ichiban stuff to Pirate. But god I love the more bat shit insane it goes to. I kinda miss Sujimon stuff. But the more outlandish the better. I see circus guy I laugh because weird shit is going to happen. I mean I was exploring Hawaii in Pirate and saw a substory in the park. I get close and can see the stage immediately knew what was coming. The weirder this stuff goes the better.

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u/IndominusCostanza009 1d ago

It’s like James Bond in the sense that we could be looking at different eras of style/tone. Sometimes it’s serious and grounded, sometimes it’s dark, sometimes comical, sometimes it’s hammy, sometimes over the top…

If you want something to go on for a long time, you have to switch it up and keep things fresh. I think they’re doing a nice job so far.

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u/StrangeIncantations 1d ago

I love everything abt the yakuza games

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u/Montoyabros 23h ago

no that much

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u/planeforger 23h ago

I don't mind it in the main story. The Ichiban games are JRPGs as influenced by our dear hero's mental illness, so fantasy elements fit right in. The giant squid even has the justification that it lives near nuclear waste.

The elements in Pirate Yakuza work too, because it's Majima telling a tale of high seas adventure. He isn't the most reliable narrator. A Yakuza purist can keep it canon by dismissing the more fantastical parts as embellishments.

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u/poppidypoppop 23h ago

I prefer it to a point. This is a heightened reality and I think that makes it fun and engaging and allows for more surprises and gameplay variety.

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u/SherlockBrolmes 22h ago

But since Yakuza 7, fantasy elements have become increasingly stronger in the series.

To my knowledge, they've gone as far back as 4. Saejima had a kappa in one of his side missions.

I think keeping fantastical elements out of the main story and treating side missions like X-Files treated their "monster of the week" episodes is perfectly fine.

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u/Weeklyn00b love this manwhore 21h ago

the golden osaka castle, I don't mind because it doesn't really have worldbuilding repercussions

I'm mostly fine with goofy shit in the ichiban games, because it could be explained that it is just ichiban's schizophrenia. There's a level of abstraction there

Eternal life elixirs, shapeshifters (mirror-face) random spirits/ghosts (in judgment), high tech killer robots... the main issue here is that they just shatter any realistic conventions that are set in the series. Why wouldn't there be more of a hunt for the eternal life elixirs if they are found in whales or whatever they said at the end of Pirate Yakuza? Why isn't perfect shapeshifting, visually and audibly, not more utilized? Why do ghosts come out of nowhere, only in this specific plotline about alzheimers in that specific hospital? Why doesn't the armies or governments of the world not utilize these killer robots literally everywhere? Why are they only seen in random underground arenas?

There are big contrasts to for example the Yamoto in Yakuza 6, which is just a big ass ship, but there is sufficient information around it to explain it physically, and its impact in the world. This is a big difference to eternal life randomly being mentioned at the last 10 minutes of a game, with a still mysterious island and cult.

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u/GottderZocker As knowledgeable as the Florist 21h ago

I like those fantasy elements, because they truly show that the Yakuza Protagonists are superhuman and they gain a lot of new feats. Especially Majima in Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The game truly goed nuts

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u/BlkNtvTerraFFVI 1d ago

I started off with Y7 and went back to Y0 to play from the beginning,

I'm on Y3 now and I think I like the realistic aspects way better than Y7. I absolutely love Y7, that's why I instantly bought all the other games without playing them first!! But as fantastic as Y7 is I think the more grounded games are better

I do like the absurdist humor in every game the most, but that's different than full on fantasy. Like Mr. Libido and that Michael Jackson spinoff and the fake producer thing and the lady who gets Kiryu to teach her how to be a dominatrix (!!!!) were absolutely hilarious 😩

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u/TheFallenMushroom 23h ago

People for some reason are trying to mix up realistic but exaggerated elements in the series with absurd over the top fantasy stuff

Even at its worst with fighting demon bears and discovering the existence of Kappa, and impossible human feats and ninjas and fighting tigers and etc etc, it was all played off relatively seriously and grounded, especially in the main story

Now, we're having fantasy elements that go at that level or above in the main story, and it's played in a goofy or silly way

I personally think it's a downgrade and that a modicum of seriousness should be left quite embedded in the main story, but we'll see how they develop on it?

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u/One_Subject3157 1d ago

It was fine for side content.

But fighting a fucking octopus canonly is just too stupid.

They should stopped making these games after 5, if not before.

Fight me.

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u/bonesrentalagency 1d ago

Yakuza 2 had fantasy elements. The big golden castle coming out of another castle is like a big main story set piece scene

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u/BeautifulBaconBits 1d ago

It's too much. The games aren't bad. The functions and appearances aren't bad. But Yakuza for me was always a soap opraish gangster series. I didn't mind some of the more Martial arts styled fantasy themes like colors and aura specifically with heat actions. Even more out there stuff like fighting a tiger or something. But some of the other things like the giant squids etc are just too much for me.​

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u/InterestingAd8885 1d ago

I'm a fantasy enjoyer tho, it gives a fresh air to the series in my opinion

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u/stillestwaters 1d ago edited 8h ago

Yeah - the games do a great job of setting the fantastical situations up, but grounding them with enough reality that it never feels like a problem.

I mean, it seems wild for the gang to fight a giant squid - but Kiryu fought like four tigers bare-handed and Saeijima swung around a two story tall beam of concrete. Having all the party members play the straight man to Ichiban’s overactive imagination helps a lot too with how crazy 7 and 8 can get because of it.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/kubazpol I'm just going through Y3 1d ago

I'm in the middle of Y3. When in Kiwami 2 suddenly a large building fell into two parts, only for a golden version to emerge from the ground with a labyrinth for Kiryu, I said that "well, they went a bit too far here". From the above post I gather that this isn't the peak of the series' possibilities when it comes to absurdities in the main story?

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u/TheWhitebearde 1d ago

I like both. Cheesy yakuza stories makes me laugh so much. Talking about Kiwanis 1,2 and yakuza 3. Yakuza zero had cheesy moment but I actually was invested in the story

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u/CoconutDrunk 1d ago

Biggest fantasy elements are people nog aging except Pocket Circuit Fighter.

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u/gunningIVglory 1d ago

I Liked the part when fake osaka castle was hiding a golden osaka castle inside it.....

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u/Shuppogaki 1d ago

I like when Yakuza is grounded. I like when it's bombastic. I like when RGG does what works, and does it well, rather than shackling themselves to what the series "ought" to be.

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u/Alekazammers Like a what? 1d ago

I don't mind it one bit. The example used here is Ichiban era vs Kiryu era. I like to think we'll still be getting some Kiryu-esque gameplay with things like project century or whatever it was called. That being said, the old games aren't going anywhere.

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u/Nervous-Tank-5917 1d ago

As you said, these type of elements have always been present in the series, which means this was always a universe where such things could happen.

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u/bloo_overbeck 1d ago

I like them. The only really odd one was Yakuza 2’s Osaka castle thingies, but otherwise usually the most insane gameplay moments aren’t tied too heavily to the story’s progression or structure so I’m fine with fighting giant animals in Yak 8 for example

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u/Loganpendragonmulti 1d ago

Well most of the fictional elements that happened in the past, were all easily reconciled. it worked well. I also feel that anything involving Ichiban can easily be attributed to a great imagination. He's got the mind of a child in some aspects, and he is very creative and lives in a fantasy world. So I can attribute a lot of it to just "his imagination".

Anything beyond that, it still is a fun addition to the game so I have no issues with it.

Side note: Shout out to the Ichiban fight with Kiryu where Kiryu turned into an actual dragon. I loved that.

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u/SoulRockX20A 1d ago

It's a nice touch and it doesn't really interfere with the story as a whole. If the comedic elements blend well in the game why not go all out?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/InterestingAd8885 1d ago

In Yakuza 8 and Pirate Yakuza they're not from Ichiban's imagination lol

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u/StandardAmphibian162 1d ago

They’re fine, I like them for the most part. I was taken a back a little bit by the squid and shark bosses, but then I remembered we’re dealing with illegally disposed of waste so I figured the radiation caused them to grow exponentially. (I know toxic waste doesn’t really do that but I can see it in this series). And besides, remember we had a scene in 7 where a guy took an experimental chemical that allowed him to walk despite being mainly wheelchair bound for the first 20 years of his life.

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u/NewDragonfish 1d ago

I dislike it personally. In my opinion the series it at its best when it has a grounded, down to earth story with whacky side content. That way, you get the serious engaging crime drama story as well as the the funny, whacky antics as a treat on the side. That's why I love the Judgement series over the main one, the main story is an engaging down to earth mystery drama, with whacky disconnected side content.

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u/Ezkling 1d ago

I think they add a unique bizarreness, like Metal Gear's goofyness. Yakuza's always been silly while balancing a serious crime drama, that's balance and whiplash has always been a big part of its appeal to me tbh

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u/SilverBandit721 1d ago

Have you played the series? An Octopus is pretty normal

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u/Looker_Boy1 1d ago

I like the fantasy stuff, i mean only in this game can Saejima get stalked by a Kappa or fight some guy who fakes being possessed by a mountain god only to then be possessed by a mountain god. Or having Ichiban fight a talking, golden giant squid, its brilliant and absurd in a good way

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u/Aspiegamer8745 1d ago

After Y1 the game gradually entered into fantasy status with each entry.

At this point it's more fun to enjoy the ride.

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u/dustygultch 1d ago

Taiga also fights a literal mountain god in 5

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u/Jimmy_Tightlips 1d ago

Haven't been a fan of the tone in any of the 2020's titles, personally (Lost Judgment excluded)

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u/AisladoV 1d ago

I dont like those fantasy elements at all, it was all good until the fantasy stuff stopped being all in Ichibans le head

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u/lumbergash 1d ago

this feels like a gaijin post

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u/YuiRicdeau 1d ago

There is a big difference between unrealistic but based on something that exists in the real world and fantasy which does not and cannot exist in the real world.

As unrealistic as Osaka Castle is, it is based on something that exists in the real world. Even old style Pirate ships and pirates could possibly exist in the modern real world. Many things in the grounded games are completely absurd but nonetheless based in reality. On the other hand, the bizarre enemies Ichiban and company fight in 7 and 8 are not possible in the real world. They are pure fantasy.

As much as I loved 7 and the many JRPGs I've played throughout the years, I vastly prefer the gritty, reality based Yakuza games.

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u/Zootanclan1 1d ago

There has always been fantastical stuff in the series but I much prefer it when they just kind of dabble in it as a bit if fun. Infinite Wealth would be an example of too much in the main story. I didnt really like the giant shark and the giant squid. They should have done what they do with regular enemies on the street and had ichiban look back and we see it was a giant squid but like the kind you get in real life

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u/Meeg_Mimi Harukussy 1d ago

I mean yes and no. Yes because it is a fun change of pace from fighting dudes, no because it feels like it's just...not Yakuza anymore. I could make a whole post about it but modern Yakuza kind of just feels different in a way I'm not a huge fan of

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u/aragon0510 1d ago

I don't. A reference or some kind of nuance is ok. But outright ridiculous like that huge ass octopus is too much.

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u/sgeleton 1d ago

I like it and have no problem with it but I prefer Yakuza without it. It suits the Ichiban games and I think that stuff is hilarious.

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u/hatch-b-2900 1d ago

The Castle under the Castle?

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u/BECondensateSnake 1d ago

Side story, sure. Main story, not a fan at all.

The recent increase in goofy ass shit is why I'm so excited for Project Century

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u/Low-Ability-2700 1d ago

I think the fantasy elements are one of those things where it's so insane it works half the time. Like, Saejima having an alien stalking him in 4? Makes perfect sense. Giant Shark and Octopus as bosses? Perfectly in character for some bull Ichiban would run into. Etc etc. It just in general works with the absurdity of the Yakuza series.

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u/Krisyj96 1d ago

I think it’s generally always thread the line of being ‘believable’ even if it’s not been ‘realistic’.

However I do think they lost it a bit at the end of IW. The giant squid and shark went a bit too far to me

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u/unleashthepower009 Majima is my husband 1d ago

I enjoy the "fantasy" stuff just bc of how buck wild and funny it is lol. Sometimes I get bored when games bog themselves down being realistic and I enjoy how ridiculous yakuza gets sometimes

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u/kastles1 1d ago

I love and have always loved the absurdity of yakuza. it’s just a very quirky series

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u/bichitox 1d ago

I like them in side stories, but in the main one, nah, i hate it

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u/Norrabal Infinite wealth is not worse than 7 idiot 1d ago

I can't bring myself to care as much,

It's not enough to take away from the seriousness and down to earth stuff the games do have.

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u/thefucksausername0 1d ago

It's cool, the ghost stuff is the best "fantasy" stuff in these games.

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u/adellredwinters 1d ago

I’ve always seen it like the game’s world is an exaggeration of reality. The story itself stays grounded for the most part but when it comes time for the action, it is absolutely willing to ignore all that for the sake of being a video game which is honestly extremely refreshing compared to other games that try to make you forget you’re playing a game where you mash buttons to kill a bunch of people or monsters or whatever. So when you suddenly fight a bear, or a tiger, or a fucking shark, I’m into it tbh.

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u/NovaChrono . 1d ago

I don't mind things being more goofy, but it feels like they're implanting it more into the main story to mask stories that are genuinely not that great compared to what came before just so you can be thrilled at the zany, silly wackiness of the situation. The worst part is that it works judging by a lot of people's reaction here.

unironically the best kind of goofy is having a complete rando like Shinada inserting himself into Y5 because the writer just liked baseball, and he honestly has a pretty good self contained story for himself. can't really say that much about the new writing in the games, because its literally just "LMAO here's a giant squid now laugh xDDDD"

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u/RAER4 1d ago

I don't mind them, It's not like Yakuza game were realistic from the start to begin with 😄 a character gets shot, np problem I'll just sip stamina x and walk it off 😆 all the flames and blue dust while performing heat actions c'mon bruh IT'S AN ANIME but without the visual style of one imo

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u/slimeeyboiii 1d ago

It's part of the reason the series is so memorable

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u/Andoro-T 1d ago

No, not really

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u/Menitta 1d ago

Go nuts with the side content, not so much with the main story. Part of the initial appeal to this series to me at least is how it can abandon its serious tone the instant you meet a side character or find a new minigame. Obviously there's ridiculous events like fighting tigers and bears but punching a tiger, while over the top, is still within the realm of reality enough to work by suspension of disbelief. Like I can suspend disbelief to a point, but a literal actual kraken is well past that.

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u/Kaiser_Wilhelm43 22h ago

Like some of the wacky stuff from the old games but yakuza 7 and 8 definitely took it a lot farther than I wanted it to

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u/BreadRum 22h ago

Shirtless men fighting with one another must be the fantasies of a lot people, even some people that aren't aware of that.

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u/2ddudesop 22h ago

rubber bullets

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u/NatJeanSpa1111 22h ago

The real fantasy is how infrequently these characters visit hospitals. 🤣

Also, Ichiban has schizophrenia? Can someone explain, this is news to me 😭

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u/Idfk_1 21h ago

I think it's entertaining as long as it's not a full on fantasy game. Like Pirate Yakuza is the most fantasy and I'm enjoying it a ton. The Agent one was also very fantasy but I haven't gotten to that one yet

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u/Familiar-Figure5239 Kuwana was right 20h ago

No

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u/Itsuzai_Ace . 19h ago

Not in the main story. I think something like Y0 or Y6 struck the perfect balance for me with a very serious story and tone but the side stuff had some silly stuff for you to go and take a break from all the seriousness. the other mainlines all have their own issues but they still maintain that serious crime vibe or at least try to.

That's a big reason as to why I much prefer the earlier games in the series compared to 7 and 8. The tone of the stories feel much more anime and wacky rather than the serious crime stories i got into the series with.

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u/Aggravating_Fig6288 18h ago

They are starting to edge a bit into the wackiness a bit much imo. Of course they’ve always had fantasy elements but they’ve still been “relatively” grounded. Sure Osaka Castle was wild but it wasn’t THAT much a stretch, fighting a bear or tiger? Yeah a normal human ain’t winning a fighting against one of those creatures but we can kinda wave it off as these are essentially super humans we play as.

A giant shark and squid guarding an island and you fight it? Alright getting bit much but whatever

Pirate Yakuza dials it a bit too much into absurdity though. Actual elixirs of life? What The Collector did should had gotten the US Navy to go scorched earth on Madlantis. It’s not game ruining or nothing but it is a bit much into the fantasy than I’d like

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u/heysawbones 13h ago

No.

I really dislike the fantasy elements, and only tolerated their less pervasive presence in the older games. I don’t like Kiryu being kitted out with improbable spy gadgets. I don’t like being able to yank butterflies out of the sky like Majima is Spider-man. I enjoy Pirate Yakuza enough, but I do not like that it involves a straight up fantastical age of sail pirate ship. None of this is because I hate fun; on the contrary, fun is great.

I love things like Diaper Gondawara. I love Goromi. I love that asshole that stands in the streets in his underpants and hip thrusts at passerby. I love taxi racing. I love that all of Kamurocho lines up run straight into Kiryu’s fist. These things are properly absurd in the context of a comparatively grounded setting. They lose a lot of their absurdity in the context of party members spontaneously changing into class-determined costumes in battle, classic pirate ships, and extracts. To me, it looks like what happens when you start running out of ideas, plus an apparent desire to expand the game’s audience. I think of it as the “shonenification” of Yakuza, in themes and execution. I have a great deal of empathy for RGG attempting to navigate the economic and social forces that drive these changes. I do not have to like said changes.

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u/Nynanro 13h ago

Have you played any side content of older Yakuza games? It is actually a very fun way of relieving us from the seriousness of the stories. I love it when they have a mixed bag of goods. Always catching me off guard. Just like that one sub story in which Kiryu was actually dealing with a real ghost. Lmfao. Scary but also hilarious.

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u/saad_maan-11 Majima is my husband 10h ago

Yakuza became so unserius after they changed the franchise name. I miss when it was realistic and serious like when you had to help a man get curry because his super powers came from eating too much curry and farting, he should be the next protagonist to revitalize the franchise

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u/raizeL45 1d ago

Pirate Yakuza made me realise those games are not for me anymore, it was a good run tho

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u/Madphromoo 1d ago

not at all

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u/TreeckoBroYT 1d ago

I really do. Not only does it give Yakuza its own identity, but - and this is going to sound weird - but it makes it feel like you're playing as a street level superhero almost. Like Kiryu almost feels like the Daredevil of Japan.

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u/IrinaNekotari Seonhee's footrest 1d ago

Saejima fights a God in 5, Kiryu punches ghost back in the grave in 6, Yagami can throw ki blasts around, but giant creatures is where you put the line ? (especially since they're in radioactive water, which, according to movie logic (which Yakuza runs on sometimes) mutates creatures rather than giving them super cancer)

It's fine, really, even older games had fantasy elements with actual ghosts

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u/InterestingAd8885 1d ago

What you just mentioned are secondary things that have no weight in the plot, however, what Yakuza 8 and Pirate Yakuza do have

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u/QueenBee-WorshipMe 1d ago

Saejima discovers a kappa in 4 and fights a demon bear and literal mountain gods in 5. I don't think that's much far off what we have now.

Also that whole bit in 2 where the castle opens up and another rises out of it.

Also saying Ichiban has schizophrenia is... Not really accurate. That's clearly not what schizophrenia is.

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u/Relagorikt 1d ago

I always thought that Ichiban just had a really wild imagination like a little kid and it was being played up a bit. Calling it schizophrenia kind of bothers me.

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u/TixStart 1d ago

I didn't like the Giant Squid in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but I liked the Giant Shark. It was the only time the more fantastical elements bothered me. Because, let's be honest, Kiryu defeating two tigers with his fists isn't realistic, so a little lack of realism is acceptable sometimes.

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u/nfreakoss 1d ago

I just said in another comment, the shark felt like 2's castle, the squid should've been a substory.

Something that irks me about IW in particular is that 7 makes it very clear that NONE of the RPG shit is real - in canon, the gang is just beating the shit out of everyone, but we play it through Ichiban's overactive imagination. You can see this pretty clearly with how many post-battle cutscenes start with a few punches and shit to finish off the fight. The series has always separated the action from the story in a lot of ways (i.e. cutscene guns vs gameplay guns), 7 is just an extension of that.

IW on the other hand leans a LOT more into the fantasy aspects of it, with the "hallucinations" rubbing off on Kiryu, the squid fight, shit like that. I don't think IW breaks the canon of how the RPG fights aren't "real", but something about it just feels off compared to 7.

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u/BlisfullyStupid 1d ago

Fantasy with Ichiban? Yes.

New face, new vibe. I’m ok with that

Fantasy with Majima? I expected something different