WE ARE SO BACK - Yakuza 5 Remastered - 4 

I've waited so long for this freaking moment...

What can I say, sassy Haruka speaks to me. 😂 You'll be pleased to hear that every character in this game has a selection of karaoke. Much like the other games, the hostesses sing their unique renditions, complete with flashy cutscenes. You'll also be pleased to hear that the hostess system in this game is waaaay better here.

Yakuza civilians when they see Kiryu: You look like a yakuza. Please don't hurt me. Yakuza enemies when they see Kiryu: Look at this old grandpa. Run back home to the retirement home before we bury you.

I'm sure plenty of people are going to point this out, but thugs throwing stones at a dog and Kiryu stepping in catching a stone midair was the first scene after Kiryu met Haruka at Bacchus/Bantam as well. That's why he said the scene was familiar.

The two reactions of npcs meeting Kiryu: 1. "Oh my god scary yakuza looking guy!" 2. "Hey, want to join me alone at the harbor for some sea fishing?"

Only saw the beginning of the video so far about the comment of the day, and as someone who watched multiple videos of Gordon Ramsay and some of his shows, the anger he portrays on them is DEFINITELY played up. I think he even admits as much in a commentary or something, he's actually a married family man with kids! And even though him yelling at people and roasting them is his most popular videos, you can still find plenty of videos of him being down to earth and sweet (Master Chef Junior is like night and day compared to Hell's Kitchen). Also he travels through the world to taste and cook new things, and is always a huge fan of local simple cuisine as much as he is fine dining, so yeah, far from an elitist. I mean I'm not calling him a saint because I don't know the man personally, but he's a lot nicer then people give him credit for XD

It's funny that Baka Mitai was actually playing on some of the in-game radios and sound systems for a few videos before Nico even realized it could be in the Karaoke bars.

32:30 You *are* remembering correctly. While Machinegun Kiss and Kamurocho Lullaby are returning songs, the camera angles they used have been changed since last game, makes it seem more cinematic as you said. Also Kamurocho Lullaby seems to have been re-recorded too as the instruments in this version sounds a decent bit different from how it was in 3 and 4. Also Ring is a favorite of mine as well. You need a hostess to see the cinematic for it, (Which you should do as this game's version is structured more like 0 and Kiwami 1's version of it rather than the annoying yakuza 3/4 ones. Kiryu only has 1 hostess to worry about here. Only 10 hearts instead of 20 like previous games and you can pay to stay as long as you want per session meaning no annoying animation of being forced to leave before going back it) It's about the female singer lamenting a past relationship or perhaps its about one where she never confessed in time. In Kiwami 2, Yuki from the cabaret management minigame sang this, so I hope you'll get to hear this game's version too. The hostess that sings this is really great. And even if that doesn't convince you, let me just say the interjections in this game when you're cheering someone in karaoke is....a bit different from other games. I think you'd find it very entertaining.

Of course Baka mitai debut when Kiryu's depressed

Yakuza 5 makes you feel like being the dad that left you to buy cigarettes.

On the topic of Gordon Ramsey, he actually seems like a sweetheart when he's not that screaming caricature. Many of the Kitchen Nightmares (not to be confused with Hell's Kitchen, the show where his best angry clips are from) episodes involve him being brutally candid about the personal dynamics of the staff (often families) and delicately convincing everyone to air out their feelings around the failing business and mediating to a beautiful and emotional outcome.

If it wasn’t apparent, *_THIS_* is the game that introduced “Baka Mitai”, which is why 3 & 4 didn’t have this song. Since Zero reused it, and Kiwami 1 used their assets, it made sense why it was in the first 2 games you played before this.

I’m amazed that Nico is having to totally relearn the Encounter Finder, considering how obsessed he was with it in Yakuza 0, and Kiwami, iirc. Just goes to show how many details slip away from you when you put years between your experiences.

Since you unlocked Karaoke, I just wanted to mention that the Remaster added English lyrics for the songs if you ever want to turn them on and see what these songs are actually about!

Drug Store: "Hello, we sell you this medicine that DOES MASSIVE DAMAGE TO YOU!"

Nico, one of these days you have GOT to see Goro Majima's rendition of "Get to the Top" in a reaction stream or something because you won't see it in the mainline Yakuza games...

You did have river fishing, it was Yakuza 0 where they only brought back it from y5. Ocean fishing makes its last appearance in this game interestingly enough.

So basically an easy way of understanding how that overcharged health works, is that it slowly depletes over time during any fight automatically, and also from taking damage. While you have this overcharged health you can't use healing items cuz well, you're already at max + health. And when that yellow health bar finally goes away, your other strength, heat bonuses also go away and you have to go eat at a restaurant again to get it back. So yeah, this gourmet upgrade basically makes you immortal lol.

Honestly it's so nice to see Kiryu really start anew for once and live out a different life in a brand new city we've not really seen before. I'm proud of him! ...Can't wait to see how all of this goes horribly wrong.

33:55 How sad and lonely is Sad Dad Kiryu? He goes to the Karaoke parlor and claps along alone as the machine sings the songs.

The fishing guy you met in the substory? He's also a real person. Real known for catching a heaping ton of Tuna in Japan and runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. Hell, he had statues of himself near the chains that you see in some games where Sushi Zanmai is featured like in Kiwami 2

The final game before 0 and the debut of Baka Mitai. We’ve truly come full circle.

“Ring” was also in _Yakuza Kiwami 2_ as you got to sing it with Kana, Shoko, and Yuki from the Cabaret Club. By the way, watching Nico completely butcher “Baka Mitai” by adding syllables that don’t even exist in the onscreen lyrics is pretty painful.

Fun fact in the spin off Yakuza Dead Souls, Majima does indeed sing Get To The Top, and the song is obviously aimed for the girls to sing as you said, but Majima turns it into a pure chaotic song with one of the best music videos it is a shame how it is locked behind fucking Dead Souls of all games, but it is what it is. But if you ever get some free time you should totally check it out on RU-vid or something since you did say you had no interest in playing Dead Souls.

That substory with another Haruka is actually referancing a scene from Yakuza 1 when Kiryu sees some assholes throwing rocks at a dog and Haruka wants to stop it but Kiryu steps in and grabs a rock in midair and throws it back at the other guy. You get rewards for completing certain things on the completion list. Whenever you get a message saying that you can pick up a reward in a convinience store that means you did something from completion list. You reached max rank with trash collection so you got encounter finder. Rewards you get from Nagasu Taxi are additional items that you get for reaching a new rank but you already reached S rank before you went back.

The cool thing about Yakuza Karaoke is that Kiryu gets a brand new song every game and those songs can often tell you where he is at that moment 0 had Judgement, a rock song that showed Kiryu having fun with Nishiki Kiwami 1 had Tonight, a sad song that showed Kiryu reflect on his old Family with Nishiki and Kazama Kiwami 2 had Pride From Despair, a song that Kiryu sings with Majima, showing that he's starting to be happy again 3 had Kamurocho Lullaby, a pretty nice casual song that shows that Kiryu is living the good life right now 4 had Machine Gun Kiss, Kiryu's back to Rock and I think it represents how happy he is at time 5 has Bakamitai, the first of many Kiryu Sad Songs, the depression arc starts with this song in particular and it only goes downhill from here.

I’ve been waiting for this day to come since Kiwami 2. Six whole years nico. *SIX*. GOD WE’RE *OLD*. AGH anyways I said to myself I’d do a cover this happened before 2025 so uhhhhhh expect that this weekend

Nico about the Yakuza/Thug dialogue:it’s like a fine wine Me:can someone please make a compilation of nico voicing all the stupid-ass yakuza/Thug dialogue. me:sets ringtone to 1 hour of stupid-ass yakuza/Thug dialogue voiced by NicoB. It’s like a fine wine.

Rival Taxi Driver: "This is the first time my gut has been wrong about Yakuza following me. Sorry about that." Kiryu: "Uhhhhhh yeah sure don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us." Rival Taxi Driver: "By the way, where did you learn how to fight? You really kicked my ass there. And you got a real mean mug on your face to match." Kiryu: "Uhhhhh"

To lower your health in 3 and 4, you would eat bait like worms. Also, AppStim RX is a great way to help fill up every bar for strength, focus, and spirit. Edit: Mame, the dog, is not dead. Kiryu just misses him. Also the cinematic for machine gun kiss was in 4. Just has some very minor upgrades. Edit 2: The encounter finder was a Completion reward from the completion for getting the max rank for pickup the trash. Everytime you complete a category in the completion list, you get new rewards. Like how it was in 3 and 4. Some activities have rewards tied to them directly as well as their respected completion reward.

"We're So Back." More like the very first time, because fun Fact, This is actually the first game Baka Mitai appeared in before 0.

I’m so happy to see you playing more of this. A little heads up that some substories or sidejobs have a hidden timer to where if you don’t pick you end up saying “…..” (a real substory and sidejob buzzkill) Also the ramen minigame is also in Like a Dragon: Ishin, but instead you have to remember what toppings they want. Edit: Appstim is in Kiwami 2 since you actually had a hunger gauge (0 and Kiwami would give you the bottomless stomach perk)

I cant believe the Dame Da Ne guy is finally doing his Dame Da Thing.

At first, I was happy there is a Café Portugal, until I realized you can't eat there. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing what food they have there. Pastel de Nata, Bola de Berlim, Bolo de Arroz, and many more. Plus some good coffee they might serve there. I would have loved going to that café as a Portuguese person myself.

"Kiryu-san, thank you for picking up trash, the company has decided to reward you; here's a rubber wall, some cloth, and a bit of wood."

Ring is still a banger to this day. I was caught off guard by how bittersweet the lyrics to the song were when I eventually looked them up.

Gordon Ramsay is actually kind of a sweetheart. He just really plays up that persona for entertainment. There are shows where he cooks with kids and he's lovely. Also he has a friendly back and forth with Uncle Roger.

So Baka Mitai was actually playing on the radio when you were driving that guy around before the race tutorial. It was very quiet but I was pleasantly surprised to hear it during that scene.

Kiryu: AppStim RX? How does this work? (Drinks it) AAAAAAHHHH GOD. WHY WOULD YOU SELL THIS!? AAAAUGH DAMMIT. AUGH…! … … I'll take 10.

One of 5’s biggest claims to fame is its vast karaoke selection. If you include renditions of the same song done by different characters as different songs, the game has 23 different songs! The only game that comes close to beating it is infinite wealth at 20.

I find the description of the Beads of Good Fortune a lil misleading: it doesn't just reduce encounters, it completely removes random encounters! Such a blessing of an accessory, but if you discard it it's gone for good. On another note, the food shown off in this game look SO good. Really makes me wanna go to Japan just for the food alone.... 🤤

You know I never thought about it, but maybe the idea was that while Kiryu couldn't have taken the kids with him in his new identity, he could have still taken the dog to have some company from his old life and that's why has been a fool?

I know it wasn't meant to be that deep, however I can't help but find funny all the same. Kiryue while singing his heart out isn't thinking about Haruka or any of the other kids from the orphanage, no he's mainly sad because he can't see his dog. (Same honestly, Relatable Kiryu)

When you think about the lyrics, it makes sense it first shows up at the “depressed Kiryu” arc

BTW, I did manage to catch a Tuna fish during the minigame. Kiryu still said he caught nothing. Basically, he would say that no matter what you caught

As a reminder, Kiryu Akiyama and Tanimura did get karaoke... but only Akiyamas and Kiryus were of any note. Tanimuras was just hostess songs. Saejima didnt want to go in.

So in case you didn't catch it, the "Another Haruka" substory with the thugs throwing rocks at the dog and the other Haruka trying to protect it is a callback to Kiryu's first meeting with Haruka in Yakuza 1! (Kiryu even remarks that it isn't the first time he's seeing that scene) After they get out of the bar where Kiryu finds her, they run into some thugs throwing rocks at a dog, and Kiryu catches one of the rocks and throws it right into one of the thugs' face. Also, other people have mentioned it in the comments already, but the hostesses in this game are actually much better than in 3 and 4, more akin to what they were in 0! The scenes are fully voiced, and you can extend your session as long as you like (or as long as you have money) to max out their gauge instead of having to exit the club after a set amount of time before getting their hearts high enough. Plus, the hostesses have their own cinematics for the interjection songs at the karaoke, so I recommend doing them just for that if nothing else. Hope you check out Kiryu's hostess here at least, I like her a lot :)

Kiryu's and Majima's VA's have such beautiful singing voices.

It's been a long ride, but finally we got to the point when Baka Mitai was first introduced, literally what I was waiting for the most for this LP. Second being the funny side missions.

Kiryu entering Karaoke Passerby: “Are you-“ Kiryu: “Going to sing Baka Mitai and sob myself to a random picture for the 5th (1st) time? Yes.” Passerby: “….are you ok-“ Kiryu: “No.”

The Devil Killers are the prototypes for the Keihan gang

Funnily enough for as iconic as Baka Mitai is, i think I still prefer Machine Gun Kiss. the latter half just hits so good and ESPECIALLY the ending. 24 Hour Cinderella reigns supreme tho

Gordon Ramsay is a decent guy afaik, but he plays up the Drill Sergeant Nasty persona for the cameras (and usually he gets mad about stuff that *everyone* would get mad at. We're talking, "you are serving raw chicken to people, that will **literally kill people**, what is wrong with you??" Levels of things to get mad at.). By the standards of chefs, he's reportedly *soft*, especially when it comes to kids.

Kiryu: *Sniff* God I miss you so much. You’re the most important person to me in this entire world, screw everyone else. What I wouldn’t give to have you by my side again. *Kiryu drinks while the camera pans over to a picture of Mame*

Kiryu in y5: Im gonna dame da sing the song Almost every game after: Im gonna dame da sing it again Also for 30:14 this was in 4, as was machinegun kiss

7:38 you can eat a worm to lower health, the ones used for fishing.

The Encounter Finder was the completion bonus for fully doing a thing like completing all hostesses or eating at all restaurants would be, as opposed to a direct reward.

You may have noticed that drifting fills up your heat and also gives you a speed boost when drifting ends, so try to drift more and the heat action also skips a section of the race usually the curves

Nico, sea fishing is easier in this game than the previous ones. YOU DO NOT NEED TO MOVE THE ROD LEFT AND RIGHT TO FOLLOW THE FISH’S MOVEMENTS. Instead, just hold R1 nonstop, and feather the L1 button as needed to force the tension gauge back down. Also, you usually need to jerk the rod backward once you get the fish within a few meters of you, otherwise it will slip off the line and escape after all your hard work.

50:03 "Hey, I'm not that old you overgrown brats"

I don't think you can redo the taxi missions if you already completed the mission, and I don't think there is smiley faces as you are driving. I think you did a couple of them perfectly, which will give you more points, but I don't think it will give you any more experience points if you do it perfectly from good. If you want to 100 percent complete this game, you will need as much points as you can get for the races, imo. Also, that bead of good fortune that you got is good for lowering the encounter rate. If that doesn't help with the high encounters, you can just walk by them by holding L1 and they will not attack you as long as you don't bump into them, and you can walk pass them long enough to be able to run from them without them able to catch you. I was always confused about the upgrade from eating(I never looked it up). Good, fun episode. I am glad you enjoyed the karaoke, because it was cool to see your reaction. To be brutally honest, I did not know what I would think of it when you did the karaoke, as I did not know if you would like it and I was wanting to see more substories and stories, but it was fun. I enjoyed your reactions to the dog from the orphanage, and the dog from the substory, because I believe you have a soft spot for dogs, as you have Bernie as part of your family.

Nico I just wanna say that... it's good to be back to watch you play through this series again... honestly I've been in a very depressive state with the constant problems on my day to day, being near homeless and at rock bottom, with a dead end job on top of that, will do that. But your insane Yakuza Bullshit really does help. I missed so much of your content from being in a mood. But I'm glad to be back.

Kiryu really loves that fucking dog.

**Sees the thumbnail** We've been waiting for so long.

Tuna King (Kiyoshi Kimura) is another Japanese celebrity that owns the real sushi zanmai restaurant chain. He has that title because in January 2019, Kimura paid a record 333.6 million yen for a 278 kg (613 lb) blue fin tuna and has is frequently the highest bidder at the Japanese new year tuna auction

Mame the dog representing the orphanage is something I read for him being the photo. I'm gonna guess that Kiryu ran away because he (think he)'s getting in the way of Haruka succeeding in the Idol world somehow?

The fishing guy from the substory is actually based on a real life chef and owner of Sushi Zanmai Kiyoshi Kimura, which appears in most Yakuza games. You might remember back in Kamurocho there was a restaurant with a chubby guy statue that looks like it wants to hug you. So yeah this is that guy.

Just want to say nico. You have literally influenced me to love the yakuza games. Since you played yakuza 0 years ago. Even though i have played more of them than your channel. given i am playing through 6 and infinite wrath at the moment. Thanks nico!! :D

Regarding karaoke Machine Gun Kiss had the same cutscene in Yakuza 4, get to to top was also in Yakuza 4 you can sing it with a hostess, kamurocho lullaby was in OG Yakuza 2, Yakuza 3 and 4, ring and baka mitai appear for the first time but ring was brought back in Kiwami 2 so you heard it already.

Oh my god...The taxi driving mini game gives me so much secondhand anxiety, but it's also so entertaining to watch...also, as someone who is in customer service and deals with the general public, I see these same freakin' types of people all the time. 🙃 The old lady who rushes you, the guy who thinks he is oh so hilarious and zany...I loved Kiryu's reaction to that, lmao. "=_=....." same These videos always cheer me up, thank you as always!! BOOSTIN' THAT ALGOOOO. 🙏

Five things for you to know. 1. Gordon Ramsey just plays up his anger for TV and is actually a pretty chill guy. A friend of mine knows some people who had met the man and they can confirm that he's not an Angry British man. 2. Mane, the dog, isn't dead. He's very much still alive and with the kids at the orphanage in Okinawa. Maybe he's running the orphanage and having Tachi doing everyone's chores. Anyway, Kiryu just misses him a lot. 3. Bakamitai was introduced here in Yakuza 5 and became a fan favorite song. So it came back for 0, and Kiwami. And also explains why the remasters for 3 & 4 didn't have it, as it wasn't in the original versions of those games. 4. The Substory with the girl named Haruka and her step dad actually gives a bit of insight on how Kiryu feels about the Haruka he practically raised. After all, despite how she calls him Uncle Kaz, he had developed the instincts of a father due to his time with her. Which is why he had helped out, as he wants to see them be happy. 5. While its not stated, its easy to assume that the reason why Kiryu and Haruka can't see each other is due to their circumstances. After all, Haruka is an Idol and Kiryu is a former Yakuza. And with how brutal the idol industry is in Japan, Haruka would end up either forced to quit or be forced to shave her head and publicly apologize for being related to someone who was once a Yakuza. So yeah, Kiryu is keeping his distance to protect her. Also, it was years ago that I saw a video that talked about how an idol in Japan had to shave her head, be demoted to a rookie and apologize to her fans due to the fact she has a boyfriend was leaked.

Baka Mitai it's Been 7 Years Glad to hear it again

THIS IS DAME DONNY GUY If you haven't see this, its a reference to a video where a streamer sings baka mitai very...eloquently. It's on RU-vid somewhere, something like Erobb sings Baka mitai.

Nico: Say the line, Kiryu! Kiryu:…..dame da ne Everyone: YAAAAAY!

I really wouldn't mind the ramen minigame being a type of time management game. It looks so fun for PC using arrow or AWSD keys.

I've been waiting for this!

Nico going "wait, I just ate a meal, I gotta fight some guys to understand what I just ate," everything makes so much sense now! That's why random guys on the street keep picking fights. They're not assholes, they're just trying to understand new fighting mechanics.

So to follow up on that Gordon Ramsey comment in the beginning bit, his anger gets played up in the American shows because ratings but the main thing that will piss him off is someone talking all the shit & then not being able to follow through, ESPECIALLY if they claim to be a pro chef then undercook shit since that can lead to health hazards. If it's someone who's actively trying to learn/going through some personal shit (there's been scenes in Hells Kitchen, the show he's most known for being angry in, of him consoling chefs having panic attacks or something similar) or especially kids, he is actually really kind. Hell with Kitchen Nightmares, he mostly gets angry at the know nothing know-it-alls who just expected him to praise their actually mediocre service while one of my favorite moments was him going to help a nice little restaurant that's off the beaten path & it becomes clear that they just needed help getting the word out because he had nothing but good things to say.

The reason enemies can stand up and run after being beat up is because they can only use toughness and stamians outside of battle. Gives a funny mental image of a guy chugging a drink right after falling of a bridge, then flying back up for the cutscene

Kiryu is likely happy that he no longer needs to eat worms, like in 3 & 4, just to eat more food and now just needs to down drugs that makes him hold his stomach.

Kiryu sits at the bar with photos of the games that failed to have baka mitai while singing baka mitai.

Machine Gun Kiss reminds me of the time I used channel points to make a small streamer sing machine gun kiss as Majima. Majima Gun Kiss

The beginning of the dame da ne era. Truly made me dame da ne all over the room.

Hi Nico, here’s a note regarding food system. I’ll recap what it does: Strength: Barehanded attacks do more damage Focus: heat gauge stays above a certain level Spirit: Heat actions do more damage Note: The overcharged health bar you get will slowly drain as you enter combat. It cannot be replenished through recovery items: only through eating at restaurants. If you lose your overcharged health bar, you lose your boosts! Hope that helps!

1:05:17 so it looked like those free missions are how you can get points if you perform badly

The taxi driving and racing certainly is fun, but I will say this as someone who played the original PS3 version. While waiting for Gaiden and Infinite Wealth I replayed this game on the remaster, and I do feel that with the PS3's lower frame rate, blurrier graphics and analog stick, it did feel a lot less janky and oversensitive compared to when I played it here, so I found it much easier to drive. Just goes to show that gameplay designed with older hardware in mind will not always work like magic when put onto HD updates, just as I found with the boat part in Yakuza 4. Just a heads up, this issue rings even more true to another vehicle segment coming up later in the game!

The return (rather the beginning) of Baka Mitai! Dame Dame~

Laughing at the fact that nico didn't realize that AppStim RX is a Laxative XD.

For whatever reasons, RGG studios always uses the dog Mame to represent the entirety of the orphanage and not any one of the kids, going forward. Maybe they just dont want to portray Kiryu as playing favourites? Either way, odd choice for representation there.

damn i missed baka mitai too, it's such a good song to play whenever you're sad

Apparently most of Gordan Ramsey's angry schtick is mostly an act. Granted I can understand him getting pissed at times given some of the stuff the resteraunts do

MachineGunKiss did actually come back from Yakuza 4 but this game's version sounds different. The one in 4 sounds way rougher

In another part of the town, a sleeping popcorn bag awakes in an alley of combs. The bag is covered in Computer mice. The bag must have been drunk off of LCD to not have memory of the past month.

I do legit wonder how much money Sega spends on celebrity cameos and whether that tactic really works :'D

This is what I’ve been waiting for!!!!

Composer of Baka Mitai basically showed up, composed half the soundtrack of this game, and dipped. He’s an awesome musician, sucks he’s really only featured in one game.

Nico you my favorite RU-vidr I started to watch you video back in 2014 I like the way you do crazy voices and I also like your games play you Also inspiring me to become a youtuber myself

Rip Dogo died by assumption

1:16:24 Hmm. I wonder if Muramatsu is related to the Kiryu's taxi boss

Oh he's not ready