What Makes the Yakuza Games So BEAUTIFUL? 

What a fantastic video! And to be uploaded on Christmas Day? I would say as an audience member that we are quite blessed with this upload!

The atmosphere in Yakuza is such a vibe, whether it be the big cities of Kamurocho and Yokohama or the small towns like Okinawa and Onomichi.

The realism of Akiyama fumbling around in his office really struck me at the time. It wasn't often you saw that kind of animation in games. Also, at the end of the day, a lot of Kamurocho and Sotenbori being re-used can be down to them being based on Kabukicho and Dotonbori. The real city districts only change so much, and the same is true for their in-game counterparts.

Yakuza 6's night time lighting and Hiroshima during sunsets were some of the most beautiful sights in the series to me. Something about those particular times and locales just felt a lot more real than later iterations.

One thing I love about Yakuza is is the passage of time and how characters naturally grow and develop. The characters age with the world. Seeing Kiryu use a pager and phone booths in 0, to him using a smartphone later just feels so realistic but also somehow nostalgic. A lot of video games tend to neglect the passage of time and the game's timeline is similar to ours.

Small areas with lots of details > big areas with minimal detail

I also wanna mention the sound direction of these games. Stellar voice acting aside, strolling through Kamurocho, hearing the hustle and bustle of countless conversations, barkers and club scouts invokes a feeling of a world that's truly lived in. Then on top of that, walking past shops and restaurants with music blaring, even some renditions of karaoke songs like Kamuro Setsugekka and Machine Gun Kiss, adds to a sense of familiarity and cohesiveness. The games keep changing, with new characters and stories, but ol' familiar Kamurocho is like home at this point.

I just wanted to mention your point about NPCs in Hawaii not reacting to the rain, because that's actually pretty realistic too haha. Honolulu (the part where LAD8 is taking place) has a pretty unique weather makeup because it's sandwiched between the mountains and the oceans. This means like 99% of the rain hits the other side of the mountains and only rarely does a cloud make it over, hence the random short lived rains that will happen multiple times a day. Generally for people who are just chilling on the beach just take it when it rains because you're either about to go jump in the ocean anyway or the sun will be out in 2 minutes and you'll dry back off while you relax.

The Yakuza/Like A Dragon series is so cool. I wish Japan was a real place. 😔

Walking around with Haruka hand in hand in Okinawa is a core memory

the way I made my entire family walk around Yokohama when we were there earlier this year, thinking “if Ichiban and gang can, so can we”. Sorry mum

I love hanging out in Kabukicho in Tokyo because its insane how similar they are. You walk around and you just find Gandhara from Y0 . Ive been there 4 times, always finding new Yakuza stuff. Like the Gindaco Highball you were talking about, it moved across the street because thats where the real Gindaco highball is. I have eaten there!

i make them beautiful

I'm still amazed at how great 6 looks despite being like 7 years old and being the first dragon engine game.

Atmosphere is one thing yakuza games always got really makes it feel alive for my favourite it probably the menu screen from both the judgement games as they both really set the mood

What i like most about Yakuza world building and what i find people overlook the most is bringing out the most of of its environment and environmental storytelling by using collectables around town. Sure, you had locker keys for years, but they have no story telling or true purpose behind them aside being a collectable. What im talking about is what Y:LaD and Gaiden have been going with which is actually encouraging you exploring the city and seeing all those details you would normally miss. For my first example, i would use Gaiden, and the reason for that is quite obvious - looking up. In Yakuza games, where collectables are usually accessible on the floor or at the very least pretty close to it, you wouldn't usually stick to the skyline while exploring the city. Add to the fact that upgrades are money-driven in the game, and the fact that you can get a platinum or gold plate by just looking up, and you've got a pretty good motivator to explore the skyline looking for that damn blue circle. What i also like is...strangely enough, Tojo Clan crests from Y:LaD, and this leads into the second thing i like about the newer collectables - the storytelling. Let me give you an example: In Ijincho, random enemies can drop those crests upon winning a battle, i believe any enemy beside Chinatown ones. Picture defeating an old hobo with a cane and him dropping a yakuza family crest upon victory. Maybe he was a former Tojo member who came to Yokohama after he lost everything after the 3K. Maybe he just found the crest and wants to sell it, not quite understanding what it stands for. Or the crests you find on the floor. You can find them in places you'd look for the least, yet paradoxically, expect them the most - beneath trash bags, in the back of a shop, in a dark alleyway, a cramped building with empty corridors, and each one looks like it was placed there intentionally by a developer as a sort of subtext, implanting a seed for a story that was not created and does not exist in practice, but rather something that we solely make up a story for in our minds that may never be told, that we nourish in our heads. And i seriously hope Yakuza/LaD will keep going in that direction with these collectibles, especially as Hawaii is coming around.

This was a very perfect summary of why I just cannot get enough of this series' visuals. The rain part especially reminded me how much it actually rains in the original Yakuza 2, which really adds to the noir mystery aesthetic that game had goin' on, and it'll always upset me greatly that it never rains in Kiwami 2 outside of cutscenes.

Lived in Hawaii for a few years and can confirm, the sky does “sneeze” like that. Always a beautiful moment.

What I love most to see in the Yakuza games are those little spots in alleys or on top of buildings, where there's just a fold out chair, maybe a little table, and an ashtray. Just two, maybe three, little objects in spots you'd never think to look add so much. Every time I see one of these spots, I think "Yup, there it is. Heaven on Earth."

I hate how this series has made me want to go visit at LEAST three completely different parts of Japan. Please Sega I don’t have travel money

I'll admit it's definitely beautiful, scrolling through the sights of various cities, especially with the likes of Okinawa and Hiroshima which makes it so awesome just watching it from our perspectives playing the games. Most cities have this charm that makes it nice whether it's the immersion or how they present the atmosphere.

For the past 2 months, I've been binging the entire mainline games in chronological order and all I can say is that I'm such a fool for not noticing this beautiful series sooner. Yakuza 5 was way too long but enjoyed it nonetheless. Definitely will not be playing it a second time though. My next game is LAD: Ishin and I've yet to play the Judgment games. I'm also really hyped for Infinite Wealth 😊

Everytime I play in a new city (currently Yokohama in Y7) I just take the time to walk around the city between quests and substories, taking in the sights and atmosphere.

For me it is the adherence to real-world details; from traffic signs, to shops and advertisements, everything just looks like real-life Japan

Really appreciate how you talk about the lighting and cutscenes in Ishin and Gaiden. Both games have such distinct visual touch, and look really pretty

Playing during the rain in Kiwami 1 was so good shit was beautiful

My favorite sight in all the games is Yagmi's HQ in Judgement. I too love looking around the city, noticing funny things like the "pasta and coffee" restaurant that is in Yakuzas 4 and 5. With Yagami's office, it was so cool to be nestled in-between the Nakamichi street's Sega building and Kamurocho Castle, which you could only go inside of for the hitman missions in 3. I loved how in Infinite Wealth there is a memory moment with that one building in Kamurocho, the large office looking one on Senryo street, where they acknowledge never utilizing it and not truly knowing what goes on inside. Kamurocho just feels alive, along with every city they take you to throughout the franchise. Great videos, man. You're making me re-live these games. I share the same sentiment with your love for the games.

This is gonna sound dumb but the part where you are talking about the soccer field on the roof top litteraly describes what i like the most in environnement art. We often like to make stories all about characters, but a story that will grip me is one that can use the environnement to its full advantage to enhance the story. I think the Yakuza series does it perfectly with the city constently changing and having small elements that show that life is being lived in the city. Basketballs on the ground tell you that kids are playing, cans on the floor can tell you that some people are drinking.

Kamurocho in Yakuza 6 at night is just something else, hundreds of nights illuminating the city, the hustle and bustle I replayed the final battle for my Gaiden playthrough and i was blown away

I was playing the intro to Yakuza/LaD 6 on Steam Deck on TV, which meant lower res on a big screen, and yet my girlfriend's mom thought I was watching something and that those were real people.

I'd like to bring up how pretty the hospital finale looks in Judgement, how you can see the rain trail down the windows is mesmerising

I use Yakuza games to revisit my favorite place in all of Japan, Dotonbori, by walking around Sotenbori, the details is damn lovely.

Sotenbori at night just looks absolutely amazing, and it takes me breath away every time I stop and look around.

yakuza is that one game where I always feel at home when running around

One of my favorites sights in Yakuza is going to be the "Kiryu in the middle of the sotenbori Footpath in the rain". When I see the cutscene it's just visually really sad and cool at the same time. The bad part is only the music though, its doo doo. Also Kiryu is literally me

For me, the atmosphere and immersion work together so well. The developers also made a conscious decision by making every map in the Yakuza franchise relatively small compared to a game like Grand Theft Auto. This has allowed them to pack a bunch of details in a smaller world. They've somehow made Kamuruchu seem bigger than it actually is by stuffing it with so much detail. On an unrelated side note, as a consumer you get your money's worth with the Yakuza games.

In Yakuza 8 there was a not so important cutscene where Ichi and Chitose are talking on the beach, and each time Chitose shifts her weight from one foot to the other while walking, she sinks into the sand a tiny bit and that blew my mind when I noticed it

While open world games aren't really my favourite formula, something I always like to do when I play a new one is take a walk. A good ol' fashioned walk. No neat traversal tricks, no mounts or vehicles, no rush. Just strolling through any part of the world and enjoying the scenery. Watching the characters' slow and small footsteps, while knowing how massive the map is. That's cool as shit. Like, nobody else who played these games got to enjoy these random square kilometers of land I just took baby steps on. That's my square km now. And I can find another on literally any other part of the map. Of course, in Like a Dragon, you'll surely see some dastards interrupting your stroll, but the point remains.

People never really point out how Judgement and onwards some light sources at night casted dynamic shadows, and going back to 6 or Kiwami 2, besides the aliasing the lack of shadows from light sources were somewhat irritating to look at now.

Dragon engine is one of the most beautiful engine I lay my eyes on IF I look past the various problems it has. Like bad anti aliasing until Gaiden, PS2 level NPC until the assets load completely in, bokeh depth of field that freaks out when there's transparency involved, bad frame pacing at times, the reliance on previous games assets mean you might see a familiar face get killed every single games, and many more. Still love the engine though.

I really hope New York Hotdog opens up to watch whatever protag down like five hotdogs and three drinks like a real American. Side Note, ever considered an analysis about Yakuza friendly AI? They each seem pretty unique in each game, especially with the Boys in Yakuza 6.

I think that another huge thing is that every game has had Kamurocho be a main location in it, and a few games have included Sotenbori, whether it be as a major/main location like in Yakuza 0 and 5 or just a minor one for a few major story beats and moments like in Kiwami 2. This really allows to see the city change overtime, which helps you feel the history behind every little thing. It really just helps the city feel alive.

Damn, glad im not the only one who learned how to navigate yokohama through yakuza 7/ lost judgement, granted the real thing was much bigger (of course), but the layout of all the landmarks in the game and its real life equivalent was surprisingly almost the same, hell that bar district next to that one small bridge was literally one to one with the in game counterpart, when I got to the bridge I was damn near expecting pick up a rainbow pyroxene, also near that park where the bosozoku substory took place in lost judgement, I actually saw a bunch of teenagers dressed up in bosozoku clothes and christmas lights pulling a rickshaw, it was surreal.

5:43 ah yes kaito dump truck truly amazing

The atmosphere creates some of the greatest immersion I’ve had in gaming, regardless of the craziness

Yesterday i finished off Gaiden and watching clips from old yakuzas (like 3 or 5) feel so weird. Like really old memories from a total another time

Thanks for the fantastic and insightful video, Snowy. Happy Holidays and a Happy upcoming 2024 to ya! 🎄☃️

I think of Yakuza graphics like old AC graphics they look great stylish but with enough realism to sell it like yeah it's not photorealistic but that's why this style holds up despite many games abandoning it.

The scene in 0 where Kuze takes off his shirt and you see every detail of his back tatoo

Your story about Yokohama was pretty similar to mine with Kabukicho. I have spent so much time in Kamurocho I was able to figure out my way around the whole district just by looking around for landmarks that I remember from the game. Which is funny, because I still am guilty of having my eyes glued to the minimap to figure out where I'm going in the games lol

I like that you compliment not going for the most realistic things and just doing what comes naturally and creatively only a few sentences earlier insulting a mark rothko painting, like dude

While some see kamurocho as ‘re used assets’ or whatever they want to throw at it, I personally really enjoy coming back almost every time. Its like my video game home now. Theres something….. comfortable about being back there. And i for one hope they use it for most of their games going forward. Traveling to other cities is fantastic and changes things up, but its always good to jump back in a taxi and go “home”.

I've always found winter very aesthetically pleasing. so tsukimino in yakuza 5 I have a soft spot for.

I was on a baseball team in Tokyo around the time I found the Yakuza series, and realized that the batting center in Kamurocho is based on the Shinjuku batting center I was going to after work regularly. I later hit my first home run there and was a little disappointed that the reward was just a pen that said ホームラン賞 and not some kind of rare $40 energy drink and didn't unlock a substory.

This was a really hearty video tbh, didnt expect that. Very fond memories of the Yakuza series

Dude, I've asked myself the same question about that door in Sotenbori!

what a nice christmas present! thanks Angeman!

One of the things I really appreciate about the fact that they keep reusing the same maps is that it does give you that ability to reminisce about things that happened in past games. It all feels so connected. They do sometimes explicitly point these out but there are so many things where they also just don't have to. And it allows them to continuously add interesting details rather than starting from scratch every time.

Great video and I truly enjoyed it. I haven’t had the opportunity to check out the rest of your channel, but a lot of things you praised and suggested about the series can also be found in its spiritual successor, Shenmue, a cult classic on the Dreamcast which was also made by Sega. Toshiro Nagoshi was even a producer on it! Shenmue is argued to be the very first open world game (which Yu Suzuki at the time coined as FREE, or Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment). Shenmue had magic weather (which even corresponds to the weather of the year it takes place in 1986), you could go into almost every building, open every drawer, and interact with every NPC, each with their own stories. Arguably, I still believe Shenmue is still the best open world game ever made.

Man I love that tism tangent you went on about everything having a history. I do that too. Especially with outer Space

Adding first person walking and a photo mode is one of the best things that came with the dragon engine. Yes, this may be a generic alleyway behind a generic 4-story building that can be fully explored for some reason. But it's a beautiful alleyway dammit! And I'm not leaving until I get the perfect shot of that fire barrel!

I've always thought that the Yakuza games excel in virtual tourism. In every game, I love walking around looking at the scenery, going inside shops, and eating at restaurants. That never gets boring to me. That's the main reason I take double the hours to finish a first playthrough of a Yakuza game 😂

No matter where people start in the series, Kamurocho and the other locales that our characters are living and ever changing, I really started playing with Y0, but I am able to go back in time, appreciate the changes over time as if I was there in 2010 all over again with Y3 and see what's changed, what's not, and see how this world I invest in, continues to evolve and change. Rarely do I ever feel a sense of continuity where the more time I spend with the franchise, the more I can appreciate how things age over time. The beauty of the RGG games is that it values the immersion. Unlike some current-year games....made by the west🙄 Never change Japan. Be your goofy selves.

My favorite definitely has to be Onomichi. Such a comfy beautiful area. 😊

Beautiful games, like I heard from RGG before

Something I've always liked in the old games, was going to purgatory and seeing the beautiful blossom trees near the office with that weird bridge.

one answer: ryuji

playing yakuza really is the next closest thing to actually going to japan. the amount of detail they put in everything is insane and it really puts u in that world so well. you can tell they put lots of love into these games and thats what makes this series one of the greatest in my opinion

the men. Most of the dudes from the yakuza series are characters who I'd bark for if I lived alone.

This is why I tell people Yakuza is my favorite anime! The cutscenes are just immaculate and really do feel like an anime you get the privelege to be a part of

thank you for the pie tutorial i really appreciate it

Absolutely spot on about everything you spoke about in this video. The creative direction in these games often makes up for the fact that the graphics really aren't cutting-edge (although Gaiden looks reaaaaaaally good). The one thing for me that I just cannot stand graphically, or presentation-wise about these games are the screen space reflections. Holy crap man, they need to consider implementing RT or using higher quality cube-maps or something. The river in Sotenbori for example is a good one, when there are like those lanterns on your screen, they just become the entire river in Gaiden. It's really jarring considering the rest of the game looks so good. So RGG if you see this comment, please put RT Reflections in your game after IW. Everything else can remain as-is because it's all so good. Great video again Snowy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - here's to 2024, which is starting off on a high note for us LADs.

Yoo that was my feeling sooo nice when I was walking around kamurocho I mean kabukicho and Osaka knowing the streets already just from the games! 🥹

Ok, that’s it. We need a rain mod for all the yakuza games

Awesome video, I hope that in 8 we can finally visit the long foreshadowed NYHotdog

When I saw the thumbnail I thought you were gonna be talking about why the protagonists are so gorgeous. It was still a great video, though.

I honestly think the lighting of Yakuza 0 is better than the lighting of Yakuza kiwami 1, mainly with the lighting during the night time. I just think 0s night time lighting looks much nicer Also this was a very interesting video to watch 👍

I like how green K2's Kamurocho is. It fits the tone of the game

ah yeah about the rain around ichiban in infinite wealth, you hit the nail on the head. I think it was a unity tutorial I was following years ago that explained to avoid using up too much processing power generating rain across the whole map at once, usually rain in games has a rain effect around the player character to give you the illusion

This was a fantastic video, thank you. Left a sub, excited to see what you'll have to say about Infinite Wealth

I love the Survive Bar because it feels just like a bar I go to every Friday Night in my town.

I like going back to kamurocho just to see what's changed. What's new, what places have shut down, what places have opened up. & seeing if those old characters are still around, it's almost like returning home after a long while.👍

The coolest thing about the Yakuza games (aside from how much I love the characters and stories) is that it doesn't ever "feel" like they're just reusing assets. It legitimately feels like you're seeing the world evolve and change across the nearly 40 years of in game timeline. From Millennium Tower to Kamurocho Hills, it all just feels super cohesive, and the benefit of having the basic structure of the city in mind is that you can add on to the city as you go, like in 4 where they added rooftops, or when they add in the underground sections. It's dripping with history.

Great video as always, Snowiest!

Merry Christmas Snowiest

Big ups for using the Yixin Valley soundtrack at the start of the video. Yakuza and Ace Combat fan, truly a man of culture.

All the other dragon engine games look great but the PC version of LAD looks absolutely terrible regardless of settings.

It's like the modern equivalent of the original resident evil, they focus all the detail in a small place. It doesn't stretch itself thin, so everything can be polished to the extreme.

10:00 WOOOO THE DIVISION MUSIC!!!

The shadow in the shadow this was one of the best upgrades that we got from the dragon engine imo. If they just do some artist work to make the direction of the shade make sense it would look awesome.

I fuckin love this series , , I already finished playing Yakuza Kiwami, Kiwami 2, Yakuza 6, Judgement and Lost Judgement. ,, Yep I love Japan and ever visited several iconic places in the game, like : Kabukicho , Shibuya crossings, Tokyo Tower, Osaka, Kyoto etc etc. I want to play the rest, especially Isshin,, Waiting for them to discount,, Playing games is an expensive hobby today . 😅

my problem with the dragon engine games in the daytime specifically is that it just looks clunky sometimes. Like its lacking shadow detail or ambient occlusion especially when youre already under a shadow, it can make the characters look like they have no lighting at all

The immersion of these games are so well done. When i went to Japan recently. The layout is the exact same in all cities and i was able to get around so easily from playing these cities for years.

Its interesting how RGG decided to make up this fictional place in America called "Hawaii"

The bread Ichiban eats in 7 is just the most beautiful scene in any video game

Man...New York Hot Dog, the place that took me 5 games to actually remember wasn't a place I could actually eat... Hands down one of the funniest jokes in Infinite Wealth was in those dumb podcasts you can listen to where the host was talking about visiting Kamurocho and that he saw NY Hot Dog and really wanted to eat there but he looked everywhere and could not figure out how to actually get inside.

Well done!👍

The vibes of the city make it seem so real...I've never heard a more accurate sound foley of a city. It makes it feel like a real place! The effort in the work pays off - very excited to see what RGG has in store for us in Infinite Wealth later this year.

my fav location is tsukimino, it has a lot of snow and ice statues of sega statues like miku. It also has a don quijote which is always my fav shop in the series (it doesnt have anything good but i still like going there to get a pepsi lol)

Onomichi in Yakuza 6 looks soo calm, love that place.