It's the same story from Yakuza 1 with a few extra cutscenes. It's still the first story we got back on the PS2. Yakuza stories are always a little convoluted. Aside from some easter eggs or some substory here and there you would be fine. Same with Zero, you miss on a lot of easter eggs or references to the previous five games. Kiwami 1 is a lot less daunting and beginner friendly.
Surprised at how many people chose The Witcher 3. An all time great for sure, but I thought most people had played it already. An easy 10 for me personally.
If anyone wants to try it, I feel like I NEED to day Echo Generation 2 released a demo. Turn-based RPG. It's currently my most hyped game of this year.
Gave another chance to Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise and it's fun. It's basically Yakuza with a Hokuto no Ken skin. Maybe I'll go back to another playthrough of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii after that.
I don't know how is it possible to be faithful to both the original timeline and the animated series. Both depict different, contradicting events. They're not giving a s##t about the canon.
You keep just saying words without actually giving a reason for them. I already explained why it's closer to the original experience than Zero and you said completely nothing of value to counter that.
K1's story is still the best story to start the series (after the original Y1) and its gameplay is closer to the original Y1 experience for the reasons I've already stated. Majima Everywhere it's optional and each fight takes only a few minutes at most while Zero's side-game needed to actually level up your skills it's a waste of time.
The people wanting to start with Pirates know that it's not the first game, as most people that started with Y7 know it's not the first one. It's not a matter of research in this case, it's a matter of being the most recent one and being a new addition to Game Pass.
For newcomers: If you want a 35-50 hours game to know if you like Yakuza, play Zero.
If you want a 20-35 hours game that it's closer to the original Yakuza 1 on PS2 in both story, themes, characters and gameplay than Zero, play Yakuza Kiwami 1.
Nah, it works.perfectly as a standalone experience.
Not saying K1 is exactly classic Yakuza, just that it's closer to the original experience than Zero is. My point about the side-game is how it directly affects the main game. In a worse way than Majima Everywhere does in Kiwami 1, therefore making it go even more far away from the original experience we were talking about.
The Majima mode in K2 does spoil Zero, but anyone who can research even a little will know that. It's not even the main game though. And pretty bad in itself.
Which half? Remind me, then, since you keep saying that.
"...Majima Everywhere from K1 "takes away from the classic Yakuza experience" too, we can do this all day...."
Nor really. It adds. It's optional. You can level up your character normally except for just one style. In Zero you need money which the best way to get is playing one of the most boring side-games. "Play". Because it can barely be called a game.
I said ir already. Y1 is the best way to start and Kiwami 1 is the next best thing, in both story, characters amd mechanics.
I'm not ignoring anything, my man. And I don't mix Y1 with K1. But there's no easy way to play Y1 right now, so K1 is the next best thing.
"...That last argument is used by a lot of people without giving it much thought. If you don't like a game, you stop playing..."
Yeah, but he said he wanted to give the whole series a go. So skipping games isn't the best advice if you can want to follow the story. I mantain K1 is the best (easily available) way to start. Y0 is better when you already know the character, and K1 is more faithful to classic Yakuza style. Y0's whole money is XP was a weird move which takes away from the classic Yakuza experience and basically forces you to play a side-game with one of its characters which is "let's wait". K1 gives a perfect introduction to the stories, themes, characters and style of the series and also the classic gameplay and level-up system.
I actually think it's a terrible idea to see Majima's transformation without knowing the character as we all knew it at that time first. That's one of the main reasons to play the games in order.
That is enough for me to say to play Yakuza Zero after 5 just like it was intended.
1/K1's story is a perfect introduction to the series' style.
Zero is great, and I'd say it's an even better game at times, but it has stuff you won't see again in the series for a while, which can make the next games a little disappointing for no fault of their own.
I'd say half the fun are the substories, which are all little self-contained side-missions. My advice would be to at least try that part of the side content and see if it's to your liking. If you don't care about the spoilers from the one before Pirate Yakuza, yeah. But at the same time this one's kinda different from most Yakuza games. It's really good, my personal GOTY from 2025, but it's easily the crazier, less serious one in the series.
@Nighto4
Yeah, and Zero was meant to be played after Yakuza 1-5. So you will always miss some stuff. I'd say it's better to miss stuff from only one game than to miss stuff from five.
South America, Argentina specifically. There's quite a few games that aren't available. Slitterhead comes to mind, for example, and a lot of indies and backwards compatible games.
Don't start with Zero, start with Kiwami 1. Unpopular opinion, yes, but it's shorter, it's the first one after all, and it will give you a good idea of what the series is all about. If you like Kiwami 1 you'll probably like the whole series. Zero is amazing and has one of the best stories in the series, but it's like 30-35 hours just for the main story. Could easily go to twice that with side stuff.
They'll mix it up with some big AAA games, a lot indies and some in the middle. I feel like it'll be no problem. And I don't mind at all if it really is a majority of indies. My most anticipated game or the year so far is Echo Generation 2.
I went back in time and I've been replaying the Need for Speed series. On Underground 2 right now. Also been playing Fable 2. And the criminally underrated Steambot Chronicles, one of the best games of all time, sadly stuck on the PS2.
Rusev was already in some of the old games, but maybe it was before 2K?
The Showcase is always hit or miss for me, I actually miss the Season Mode or Road to Wrestlemania, but I'll say CM Punk is one wrestler I'm interested in. I usually just buy them for the MyRise aspect, so I hope it's good.
Will all those 400+ wrestlers be in the base game? 2K always has A LOT of DLCs.
Doubt the number of people interested in "trying it for free" would be the same number of people willing to try it at full price.
I think it's safe to say that some people that tried it for free liked it and bought it, and some people that could have bought it just tried it for free, so the numbers are really hard to get.
Comments 2,711
Re: Six Classic Games To Feature In 'Marvel MaXimum Collection' On Xbox Series X|S
Cool that it's coming to Xbox.
Re: Review: Resident Evil Requiem (Xbox) - Capcom Delivers A Masterful Mix Of Action & Horror
Glad we left behind the 7-8 plotline and MC, but will wait for a big sale.
Re: Vampire Crawlers Gets Free Xbox Demo Ahead Of 2026 Game Pass Launch
Hell yeah. Thanks for the reminder!
Re: Three Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (February 24-26)
The Dice one sounds cool. Sad that it's not on console.
Re: Xbox CEO Shares Her Three Favourite Games Of All Time, Along With Her Gamertag
I really don't care if she plays or not, only in if she does a good work.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 21-22)
@FraserG
It's the same story from Yakuza 1 with a few extra cutscenes. It's still the first story we got back on the PS2.
Yakuza stories are always a little convoluted.
Aside from some easter eggs or some substory here and there you would be fine.
Same with Zero, you miss on a lot of easter eggs or references to the previous five games.
Kiwami 1 is a lot less daunting and beginner friendly.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 21-22)
Playing Yakuza Kiwami 3 right now. Enjoying it a lot.
Re: New Xbox Boss Makes Official Statement As She Takes Over From Phil Spencer
Can't take seriously someone who says "slop" seriously. But we'll see. The other parts sound interesting.
Re: Talking Point: What Are The Best 'Hidden Gem' Xbox Games You've Played In Recent Years?
Re: God Of War Creator Suggests Xbox Should Get Involved In Bluepoint Games Situation
Guy's always spitting facts.
Re: Poll: As Things Stand, Will You Be Buying GTA 6 On Xbox This November?
Definitely not, no interest at all.
Re: Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (February 19)
Surprised at how many people chose The Witcher 3.
An all time great for sure, but I thought most people had played it already.
An easy 10 for me personally.
Re: These Eight Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (February 19 - March 3)
I'm just hyped for Towerbone. ๐
Re: Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (February 17)
They're also teasing KCD2 I think?
Re: Insomniac Shares Cold-Hearted Response To The Chances Of Spider-Man 2 Coming To Xbox
Didn't the Helldivers 2 devs said the same before? Anyway, it's not a problem for me personally, I have zero interest in this game.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 14-15)
If anyone wants to try it, I feel like I NEED to day Echo Generation 2 released a demo.
Turn-based RPG. It's currently my most hyped game of this year.
Re: These 10+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (February 16-20)
I forgot about Soulslinger coming out. That one looks cool.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 14-15)
Gave another chance to Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise and it's fun.
It's basically Yakuza with a Hokuto no Ken skin.
Maybe I'll go back to another playthrough of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii after that.
Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Confirmed For Xbox, And Konami Says It Marks A New 'Beginning'
I don't know how is it possible to be faithful to both the original timeline and the animated series. Both depict different, contradicting events.
They're not giving a s##t about the canon.
Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Confirmed For Xbox, And Konami Says It Marks A New 'Beginning'
Ah, so it follows the show... Ugh. That totally killed all the hype I had.
Re: Game Freak's Beast Of Reincarnation Gets August 2026 Xbox Game Pass Release Date
Plenty of good stuff on Game Pass.
Might resub once I finish a few games from my backlog.
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2026's State Of Play
Mixed feelings about a new Castlevania that isn't the 1999 Demon Castle Wars.
Re: Deals: Xbox Lunar New Year Sale 2026 Now Live, 900+ Games Discounted
There's a lot of stuff. Will definitely be buying something!
Re: Xbox Announces Excellence Awards Winners, Including For 20 Best-Selling Games
Seeing Assassin's Creed Shadows there makes me happy. Well deserved. ๐๐ป
Re: 'Romeo Is A Dead Man' Receives Wide Range Of Review Scores, Hits Xbox This Wednesday
> I see PushSquare's score.
Hell yeah, I'm gonna love it.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Nighto4
You keep just saying words without actually giving a reason for them.
I already explained why it's closer to the original experience than Zero and you said completely nothing of value to counter that.
K1's story is still the best story to start the series (after the original Y1) and its gameplay is closer to the original Y1 experience for the reasons I've already stated.
Majima Everywhere it's optional and each fight takes only a few minutes at most while Zero's side-game needed to actually level up your skills it's a waste of time.
The people wanting to start with Pirates know that it's not the first game, as most people that started with Y7 know it's not the first one.
It's not a matter of research in this case, it's a matter of being the most recent one and being a new addition to Game Pass.
For newcomers: If you want a 35-50 hours game to know if you like Yakuza, play Zero.
If you want a 20-35 hours game that it's closer to the original Yakuza 1 on PS2 in both story, themes, characters and gameplay than Zero, play Yakuza Kiwami 1.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Nighto4
Nah, it works.perfectly as a standalone experience.
Not saying K1 is exactly classic Yakuza, just that it's closer to the original experience than Zero is.
My point about the side-game is how it directly affects the main game. In a worse way than Majima Everywhere does in Kiwami 1, therefore making it go even more far away from the original experience we were talking about.
The Majima mode in K2 does spoil Zero, but anyone who can research even a little will know that. It's not even the main game though. And pretty bad in itself.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Nighto4
Which half? Remind me, then, since you keep saying that.
"...Majima Everywhere from K1 "takes away from the classic Yakuza experience" too, we can do this all day...."
Nor really. It adds. It's optional. You can level up your character normally except for just one style.
In Zero you need money which the best way to get is playing one of the most boring side-games.
"Play". Because it can barely be called a game.
I said ir already. Y1 is the best way to start and Kiwami 1 is the next best thing, in both story, characters amd mechanics.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Nighto4
I'm not ignoring anything, my man.
And I don't mix Y1 with K1. But there's no easy way to play Y1 right now, so K1 is the next best thing.
"...That last argument is used by a lot of people without giving it much thought. If you don't like a game, you stop playing..."
Yeah, but he said he wanted to give the whole series a go. So skipping games isn't the best advice if you can want to follow the story.
I mantain K1 is the best (easily available) way to start.
Y0 is better when you already know the character, and K1 is more faithful to classic Yakuza style. Y0's whole money is XP was a weird move which takes away from the classic Yakuza experience and basically forces you to play a side-game with one of its characters which is "let's wait".
K1 gives a perfect introduction to the stories, themes, characters and style of the series and also the classic gameplay and level-up system.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Nighto4
I actually think it's a terrible idea to see Majima's transformation without knowing the character as we all knew it at that time first. That's one of the main reasons to play the games in order.
That is enough for me to say to play Yakuza Zero after 5 just like it was intended.
1/K1's story is a perfect introduction to the series' style.
Zero is great, and I'd say it's an even better game at times, but it has stuff you won't see again in the series for a while, which can make the next games a little disappointing for no fault of their own.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
@Decimateh
I'd say half the fun are the substories, which are all little self-contained side-missions.
My advice would be to at least try that part of the side content and see if it's to your liking.
If you don't care about the spoilers from the one before Pirate Yakuza, yeah. But at the same time this one's kinda different from most Yakuza games.
It's really good, my personal GOTY from 2025, but it's easily the crazier, less serious one in the series.
@Nighto4
Yeah, and Zero was meant to be played after Yakuza 1-5. So you will always miss some stuff.
I'd say it's better to miss stuff from only one game than to miss stuff from five.
Re: If You Like EarthBound, This New Xbox Game Is Getting Heavy Comparisons To It
@FraserG
South America, Argentina specifically. There's quite a few games that aren't available. Slitterhead comes to mind, for example, and a lot of indies and backwards compatible games.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
Don't start with Zero, start with Kiwami 1.
Unpopular opinion, yes, but it's shorter, it's the first one after all, and it will give you a good idea of what the series is all about.
If you like Kiwami 1 you'll probably like the whole series.
Zero is amazing and has one of the best stories in the series, but it's like 30-35 hours just for the main story. Could easily go to twice that with side stuff.
Re: If You Like EarthBound, This New Xbox Game Is Getting Heavy Comparisons To It
Doesn't seem to be available in my region, sadly. Not the first time.
Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass
Just give me the same as PC users for the same price.
Re: Multiple Games Announced For Xbox Following February 2026's Nintendo Direct
Turok has the Captain Tsubasa video, which took me completely off guard when reading something about destroying the galaxy. ๐
Re: Black Myth: Wukong Gets Its First Xbox Discount Since Launching Last Summer
Black Mid Wukong. ๐ฅ
Re: These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Including Three Major Additions (February 5-17)
@Decimateh
Check out the reveal, it looks really good!
They changed the combat to card-based which I know it's not for everyone, but I'm hyped.
Re: These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Including Three Major Additions (February 5-17)
@FraserG
They'll mix it up with some big AAA games, a lot indies and some in the middle. I feel like it'll be no problem.
And I don't mind at all if it really is a majority of indies. My most anticipated game or the year so far is Echo Generation 2.
Re: These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Including Three Major Additions (February 5-17)
The BlazBlue one looks cool!
Re: Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (February 3)
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is my personal GOTY of last year. Pure, unadulterated fun.
Re: Nioh 3 Could Mark The Series' Xbox Debut As Sony Confirms 6-Month PS5 Exclusivity
Honestly the only thing on Playstation that I'm interested in. This and Rise of the Ronin, because I love Team Ninja.
Re: Talking Point: One Year Later, How Do You Feel About Xbox RPG Avowed?
@FarmDog08
Yeah, same here. I might go back now that it has all the updates to play as a completely different character.
The wand was really fun to use, but maybe a gunslinger.
Re: Capcom Is Delivering Another Early-Year Xbox Treat This Month With The Latest Resident Evil
Haven't been interested in RE for a long time. Not gonna buy it, but the Leon parts look cool.
Re: Talking Point: One Year Later, How Do You Feel About Xbox RPG Avowed?
Great game, hated for no reason. Cool story and characters and really cool combat and builds.
I think 8/10 is fair enough. Maybe a 9?
Re: These 10+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (February 2-6)
Nothing for me. I want Carmageddon, but not right now.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 31 - February 1)
I went back in time and I've been replaying the Need for Speed series. On Underground 2 right now.
Also been playing Fable 2.
And the criminally underrated Steambot Chronicles, one of the best games of all time, sadly stuck on the PS2.
Re: WWE 2K26 Releases This March, Includes Four New Match Types & The Biggest Roster Ever
@FraserG
Thanks for the answer! I still don't trust 2K too much ๐
We'll have to wait a bit more to be sure about the roster.
Re: WWE 2K26 Releases This March, Includes Four New Match Types & The Biggest Roster Ever
Rusev was already in some of the old games, but maybe it was before 2K?
The Showcase is always hit or miss for me, I actually miss the Season Mode or Road to Wrestlemania, but I'll say CM Punk is one wrestler I'm interested in.
I usually just buy them for the MyRise aspect, so I hope it's good.
Will all those 400+ wrestlers be in the base game? 2K always has A LOT of DLCs.
Re: Mullet MadJack Dev Ecstatic With Xbox Success, Says It Proves How Vital Consoles Are
@VeganH
Doubt the number of people interested in "trying it for free" would be the same number of people willing to try it at full price.
I think it's safe to say that some people that tried it for free liked it and bought it, and some people that could have bought it just tried it for free, so the numbers are really hard to get.