Obviously an April Fools joke, but seeing as the team love asset reuse, and that could basically work as a functional replacement of the clan creator mode (a far better one by the looks of it). Wouldn't surprise me if it makes it in as a mini game in the full game, I'd welcome it, looks hilariously fun.
Meanwhile, more No.1 Hostess stuff in Yakuza 4, and while its not technically a great mode (it sure is addictive somehow) it still cracks me up with some of the animations you can get when your hostess does good/bad.
He strikes me as having a bit of an unorthodox almost drunken master style. That could be kind of fun in the final game. Can’t wait to see his move set :)
Also, maybe it’s too late for them but they should really try to make this the new clan battle for the game. I seriously dig the look of this combat system so much that I would love for them to make it a real thing in the final game. Give me turn based Yakuza.
Ah well, one can dream. But the thought of Ichiban having a more unorthodox style of fighting is still doing a lot for me. Can’t wait to see what they come up with Heat wise.
Now I’m actually excited to see what Shin Yakuza will be.
Ah Yakuza 4. Often sited (ok, by me) as the easiest game in the series difficulty wise. So... how the heck did it get the hardest first character chapter in the series also!? Saejima chapter 1 always sticks out as this weird anomaly (both in chapter 1 and chapter 2) as tossing you in the deep end first by giving you a non leveled up character against a pretty aggressive group of enemies, including a pretty tough section with a sniper, and then... well the second chapter boss fight would give anyone trouble on a good day!
I still really love Saejima though. Just something about his character, voice, personality and hey he still hits like a house in the first chapter - get his shoulder barge move + charge attacks and he just super armors his way into a air/bound combo. Just setting it up is tricky. Once I hit chapter 3 I should be able to unlock a few more moves to really power him up some more.
Indeed; he's my second favourite character of the series and a complete badass; I REALLY wanted to get something of his tattooed on me, but he has no iconic symbols associated with him, nor does he have anything distinctive that could be tattooed; I settled for Majima's eyepatch instead, because its super cool and super iconic.
Maybe I should've gotten a fist, with, "Auuuughhhhh Rouge of Love!" on it lol
Should have got his horrible Y4 haircut tattooed on your arm! (just kidding, no one would deserve such a thing!)
I do love Saejima in 5 with his interjections for Rouge of Love, cracks me up every time I hear it and I'm often yelling it randomly.
Spent some more time with Saejima now that I'm in Kamurocho and I've got him leveled up better and got two of his revelations done (which rock). I want to say his moves list for 5 is slightly more refined but until I play 5 again I'm not sure if that's just misremembering things on my part. He's great now though, deals an insane amount of damage on a combo and he's got those awesome follow up attacks! Definitely shouldn't have problems again like I did with the first chapter. Only bummer is some of his cooler heat moves are flashing health only, so I've been living the convict life of only healing with Ramen when close to death, win win especially as I don't recall how Saejima can really make lots of money.
And lastly, loved the cats side story. Not quite the best cat side story in the series (that goes to Judge Eyes) but its very charming all the same.
More time put into Saejima's part today. Chapter 4 throws the arena, then the fighter maker at you. Hours have been lost today with no story progress made because I love the arena so much. Inzen in the weapon tournament is still the toughest fight I think, he's a legit bastard. And the fighter maker? I honestly like it more than the cabaret club training stuff in 0, the payoff is more satisfying seeing your fighter win a tournament. Also Sodachi cracks me up, glad he returns albeit in a small fashion in 5 and 6.
And that's Saejima's chapter in the bag. Again could have done with more story stuff like with Akiyama (these chapters are so darn short if you don't do side stuff, but why would you ignore all that fun!)
Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Saejima from 5 and honestly that's still the case here after replaying it, there's a reason he's ranked 3rd in the popularity polls this year
His tanky style starts out bad (they really should have rebalanced that first stage) but by the end of the part he's stupidly powerful, can tank a hit or three while charging up insanely powerful attacks that break through enemies, cause bounce or bound states on enemies to follow up into more heat moves. Enemy blocking? Heat move for that as well, not to mention some great weapon moves from Kenzan, and multi enemy heat moves... he's quite versatile in the end.
Story wise I'd forgotten how he gets some pretty damn good scenes, and makes me really notice how he's maybe a bit too trusting at times
since he trusts Baba just like Kido, both seem to have that similar unassuming softer personality but are both pretty damn tough once you see past their facade of a personality - though Baba less so, seeing as he gets schooled by Shinada
. Anyway, Saejima's great scenes for me were:
1) The hit - yeah, rubber bullets. Lets ignore that for now. Its still an awesome scene. Either way, it shows just how dedicated Saejima is to Sasai by "slaughtering" all of the Ueno the way he did. I'd say he was remorseless but...
2) His big arena speech - this one is fantastic. Because its a pretty powerful speech of his about how despite him throwing away his life for his boss, he does regret him "killing" all those Yakuza. This one just kinda cements why I like Saejima so much. He's a loyal SOB to the end and a terrifyingly powerful one at that but he has his morals. He's like a more hardened Kiryu (lets face it, Saejima seems much more like an actual Yakuza than Kiryu was, at least from what you see of both of them in flashbacks)
3) Him reuniting with his old boss - yeah, this one just got to me. A great little scene.
4) Lastly, his whole speech to Kido - kinda going back to his points in 2, he shows his human side, but also the dedication he has to his boss. I love these Saejima speeches, which is why I love some of his prison bits in 5 when he spouts similar stuff. Plus he always backs his speeches up with some pretty badass fights, such as the great finisher with a whole load of Majima's goons along with the main man himself.
Side content wise as I've already mentioned I find his fighter maker to be fantastic, its probably the highlight of the game for me, I'd love that to come back fleshed out ahead of more Cabaret stuff since that's been done several times already. Just have a similar thing but with Ichiban in Shin and I'd be happy. This is in contrast to his training stuff with the caves which honestly aside from the hilarious finale was pretty meh.
Side story wise he's got a few great ones (anything involving technology is always great for some laughs, and his whole quest chain with the little kid trying to help his family is ace as well though his best story is in the finale so I've not done that yet... kappa).
Now onto Tanimura, who I'm interested to see since they changed him over to a new actor. Just wish I could give him the champion ring Saejima has which makes enemies more aggressive, it'd work wonders with his parry centric fighting style. It'll be nice to see Nair again. Plus, I still remember Tanimura's end fight (as in, not the final boss) which is perhaps the best fight in the game. Can't wait!
And that's Saejima's chapter in the bag. Again could have done with more story stuff like with Akiyama (these chapters are so darn short if you don't do side stuff, but why would you ignore all that fun!)
Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Saejima from 5 and honestly that's still the case here after replaying it, there's a reason he's ranked 3rd in the popularity polls this year
His tanky style starts out bad (they really should have rebalanced that first stage) but by the end of the part he's stupidly powerful, can tank a hit or three while charging up insanely powerful attacks that break through enemies, cause bounce or bound states on enemies to follow up into more heat moves. Enemy blocking? Heat move for that as well, not to mention some great weapon moves from Kenzan, and multi enemy heat moves... he's quite versatile in the end.
Story wise I'd forgotten how he gets some pretty damn good scenes, and makes me really notice how he's maybe a bit too trusting at times
since he trusts Baba just like Kido, both seem to have that similar unassuming softer personality but are both pretty damn tough once you see past their facade of a personality - though Baba less so, seeing as he gets schooled by Shinada
. Anyway, Saejima's great scenes for me were:
1) The hit - yeah, rubber bullets. Lets ignore that for now. Its still an awesome scene. Either way, it shows just how dedicated Saejima is to Sasai by "slaughtering" all of the Ueno the way he did. I'd say he was remorseless but...
2) His big arena speech - this one is fantastic. Because its a pretty powerful speech of his about how despite him throwing away his life for his boss, he does regret him "killing" all those Yakuza. This one just kinda cements why I like Saejima so much. He's a loyal SOB to the end and a terrifyingly powerful one at that but he has his morals. He's like a more hardened Kiryu (lets face it, Saejima seems much more like an actual Yakuza than Kiryu was, at least from what you see of both of them in flashbacks)
3) Him reuniting with his old boss - yeah, this one just got to me. A great little scene.
4) Lastly, his whole speech to Kido - kinda going back to his points in 2, he shows his human side, but also the dedication he has to his boss. I love these Saejima speeches, which is why I love some of his prison bits in 5 when he spouts similar stuff. Plus he always backs his speeches up with some pretty badass fights, such as the great finisher with a whole load of Majima's goons along with the main man himself.
Side content wise as I've already mentioned I find his fighter maker to be fantastic, its probably the highlight of the game for me, I'd love that to come back fleshed out ahead of more Cabaret stuff since that's been done several times already. Just have a similar thing but with Ichiban in Shin and I'd be happy. This is in contrast to his training stuff with the caves which honestly aside from the hilarious finale was pretty meh.
Side story wise he's got a few great ones (anything involving technology is always great for some laughs, and his whole quest chain with the little kid trying to help his family is ace as well though his best story is in the finale so I've not done that yet... kappa).
Now onto Tanimura, who I'm interested to see since they changed him over to a new actor. Just wish I could give him the champion ring Saejima has which makes enemies more aggressive, it'd work wonders with his parry centric fighting style. It'll be nice to see Nair again. Plus, I still remember Tanimura's end fight (as in, not the final boss) which is perhaps the best fight in the game. Can't wait!
My one wish for Tanimura was that I could either give him my champion ring or get one real early. But alas its an arena only item. His fights would actually be better with enemies attacking more, makes you get more use out of the counter. I am still enjoying his stuff so far, but like the last two characters I'll probably spend the first few hours getting him leveled up to a decent point so that his combat is more fun.
I definitely don't remember his chapter very well. The fight I thought was his final long fight is actually the end of his first chapter. What a great first chapter though! Glad I spent some time leveling him up before the fight as else he'd be pathetically under powered for what awaited me.
Mini game wise I'll be focusing on the gambling stuff with Tanimura, keeping in character with his personality. I've already had some awesome Mahjong wins, just really need to get an all doubles hand for the trophy now.
I'm definitely finding me loving 4 more than I remember (though really, I don't remember the game which might be the problem there!) so its been so nice replaying this definitive version. Heck, even Nu Tanimura has done a good job so far VA wise, well bar his Chinese sounding rather wooden in delivery (which was one of my fears when they recast him).
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