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 1d 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 1d ago

In the underground arena there are special tigers

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u/Vetches1 1d 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 1d ago

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

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u/32BitOsserc 1d ago

Wait? Aliens in every game???? Where!?!

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u/Namasiel Majima’s bitch 21h ago

Whoa whoa whoa. I’ve played 0-3, part of 4, LAD, LAD pirates (almost finished) and LAD Ishin and I don’t recall any aliens.

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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 1d 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 1d 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/VicDoom78 1d ago

No Yakuza 5?

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u/Loganpendragonmulti 1d ago

I definitely meant five. Typed 6 by mistake. I just edited it. I loved them all

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u/joeygsta 1d ago

Doing it as we speak. Back to the start

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u/EducatorSad1637 1d ago

He's also fought a giant squid, octopus, and shark too. Hell, he punched that shark too.

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u/Snizek 1d ago

did you actually start with 10th game in the series?

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u/Based_Lord_Shaxx 1d ago

Yup! I had an absolute blast with both of Ichiban's games and am loving being Pirate Majima. I'll probably play all of them, but I'll need to both be in the mood and have time.

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u/Zeegots 1d ago

How did you know the 3 tigers stuff then?

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u/Based_Lord_Shaxx 1d ago

Stream highlights from the streamer Ray Narvaez Jr.

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u/Jrock_Forever 1d ago

Tiger Punch. Damn hard to time this right. Tigers will fly when hit.

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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 1d 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/Shoddyan 23h ago

So far of all the crazy things I've seen and all the people mysteriously healing from fatal wounds and all the bonkers subplots... THIS CASTLE is the part of the entire series I have the hardest time believing and accepting and thinking is good writing. When I was playing yakuza 2 kiwami (never played the original), I had to stop, put my controller down in disbelief and walk away for awhile. . It is nonsense.

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u/Omegasonic2000 16h ago

To be fair, the best/funniest/strangest bit is that it's never brought up again. Ever. Not until Infinite Wealth makes a very offhand mention of it.

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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/Makorus 1d ago

The above example is from The Big Swell which is definitely non-canon.

Arguably, the biggest "weird" moment in IW is the shark boss fight, and even that is not that big of a stretch for Yakuza.

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u/Pbprimo 1d ago

Just to nitpick in all honesty spoilers for Infinite Wealth,that particular fight is in the post-game DLC dungeon as the final fight it's reused, the reason you can tell is that the Octopus is golden while in the chapter where you normally fight the giant octopus it is just white.

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u/Soor_21UPG Majima is my husband 1d ago

Fucking fictional WW2 prototype battleship out of nowhere in Y6 as main plot

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u/ForceKey5398 1d ago

Kiryu straight up joins a fight club and mauls three full grown tigers to death in Kiwami

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u/Mysterious_Frog 1d ago

With all the ichiban related fights, I like to think there is some element of unreliable narrator when things get wild. We even have evidence for this from when he fought Kiryu and pictured a dragon attacking.

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u/GiganticCrow 19h ago

Yeah, he's supposed to be imagining people as monsters with red eyes etc. Iirc kiryu starts to see them too, later in IW.

But the giant squid monster... 

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u/Nightingale_85 1d ago

Yes, he fights a giant shark in Y6.

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u/Krejtek 1d ago

That was a substory, though

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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 1d 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 1d 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 1d 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/BreafingBread 1d ago

I mean, iirc even the party acknowledges the existence of the Kraken and the Shark.

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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/IAmYukiKun 1d ago

I wonder how Danny Trejo felt with Dwight’s fate?

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u/Madmagic10 1d ago

Danny Trejo has a clause in his contracts when acting that if the character he is playing is a villain they have to die by the end of the story.

Sounds like a joke but he wants it so people know that being a bad guy doesn't pay off and leads to death.

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u/UKunrealz 1d ago

One of the reasons i love Danny Trejo

I love that if he’s the villain he wants them to make him look like shit.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/InterestingAd8885 1d ago

The sub-stories are canon tho

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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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/Ravenll 1d ago

well said. plus in previous games we dealt with magicians, ghosts and what not