Yakuza 1 is definitely one that will forever be engraved into my brain, the story was amazing but in terms of the devs not directing the VA's properly it made the English dub hilarious to listen to especially with the 10 years in the joint meme to be born.
Which is funny since its not like main cast we're new to VA: Mark Hamill - the Joker Eliza Dushku - Catwoman. Darryl Kurylo - Alex Mercer Michael Madsen - Toni Cipriani Michael Rosenbaum - the Flash Dwight Schultz - Dr Animo 😂
To be fair Eliza Dushku was new to VA at the time. She was mainly riding off her Buffy fame when this game came out. The others however yeah the lack of voice direction really hurt them.
Yakuza 1 felt like i was listening to an indie rock band's debut album. Rough. Confusing. But has confidence. Makes me want to hear more from them. But it's Yakuza 2 that made me a fan of them.
Not sure I've played them since my only access is through the xbox app on my pc but I've played one or two of them that are free from game pass I'll have to look into playing them all from the looks of it
After playing Yakuza 0 - Like a Dragon as well as both Judgement games and I can say this is the 1st time I heard any type of English dub for the game lol. These games have driven me to learning Japanese and even before I started that journey a few phrases and words were already super familiar to me just because of these games
You're telling me that throughout the entire time you played through these games back to back you never heard of the ten years in the joint meme? Preposterous
The brutality of the original game is so strange compared to the rest of the franchise, the amount of named characters that die in this game is probably higher than any other entry in the series.
Man I love this series. So fucking goofy, cheesy and there's just so much heart and passion put into these games. Even the controversial ones(Y3 and Y6) are still very fun games.
For yakuza the story order is the release order, 0 is meant to be played in between 5 and 6 to show the beginning of Kiryu's journey as a yakuza immediately followed up with (what was originally planned to be) his final game in the series. It makes much more sense, imo, when 0 isn't the first you play in the series.
I replayed this last year and was surprised at how relatively quickly I finished it. Clocked in at about 25 hours with all the substories done, although I used a guide to track them as I knew some were missable. There's a roughness to it all but a sense that this was a game they had a lot of passion for making. Certainly wish I'd known about the series sooner than later as I only learned about it back when Yakuza 5 made news for finally getting an English release. Fun fact about the Majima fight in the batting cage: In the Japanese version it's still firing baseballs out. They'll do some scratch damage if they hit you and you can use them as weapons. There's also a few bats about that can be used too.
At 5:41, the bag of infinitely respawning golf clubs Kiryu can break over everyone's heads is what sold me on this franchise. That was such a funny detail, and it's entirely in line with Yakuza's signature brand of cultural satire. Combine that with the stiff, heavy impact of every hit and the screaming trumpet in the battle music, and I was hooked. Also Ugaki's Majima in the original game blows Mark Hamill's out of the water, and anyone who has a problem with that can meet me at the batting cages.
Recording No Damage videos for this and other games made me learn that Yakuza 1 isn't at all janky like everyone says. It's a freaking blast to play! Probably has my favorite Amon fight in the series as well. Don't remember how the PS2 console or emulated versions feel, but the HD remaster for PS3 and Wii are fine, great even. Combat is great. The quick heat loss and fast heat gain balance out each other. Going to critical health and or being drunk makes heat loss not an issue anymore. Stuff like bounding throws, grab combos and reversals work much better here for crowd control than in the other games. The reversals especially are useful if you start attacking in the wrong direction and want to back track. Counters feel very easy to land. I like that Yakuza 1 has some features that didn't come back in later games: canceling a dodge with a block, being able to knockback while holding a single-handed weapon, counters not requiring to be locked on, spinning the enemy around when you grab them without the lock-on, bounding throws working on defeated enemies for free I-frames. Also environmental heat actions work when you walk while grabbing the enemy, it's not enough to be just standing next to the wall.
Nah, maxing out the hostesses bond gauge and substory just ends with Kiryu bringing them to the Batting Center and impressing them with his skills with a bat. Kiryu is canonically a virgin.
I'm so hyped for the new like a dragon to see Kiryu again. Sega is actually holding a Yakuza funeral January to February for its release with special merch and fake headstones.
Judgment was the first game to get an English dub again, not Yakuza 7. And yes Judgment counts, don't sleep on it and Lost Judgment. They're excellent games.
43:20 Majima refers to Kiryu as "Kiryu-chan" not to condescend, but because the yakuza essentially operate under a 'family' metaphor, where everyone who you outrank is the 'younger brother' and you (and those who outrank you) are the 'older brother.' While the games simplify it as simply "Majima-san," what Kiryu's really addressing him as (at least in the original Japanese) is 'Majima-no-niisan,' 'Older Brother Majima.'
I've been waiting for this, the Yakuza train has finally arrived at my stop. I look forward to enjoying this trip down memory lane. Also you mentioned that you played the games from the mainline series, what about Judgment and Lost Judgment?
I was hooked game one, year one- this game specifically, no matter the version or dub still hits hard to this day in a specific way the others just don't, even if they're better games.
you made the right decision playing them in release order, people who said to play it in story order were buggin 100%. Going back to worse combat systems after 0 would be very painful, not to mention you'll be able to pick up on all the sidequest subplots in the proper order since you're covering them in releaser order
@@ypgdomo he said he wanted to go through all of them starting at ps2 iirc and in that case this is the right move. There is something to be appreciated about the shoddy voice acting and Kiryu not being the patron saint of a character that he is now, they retconned him into being this super moralistic hero of all society issues but in these ps2 games he's more of a "yakuza" so that's interesting to see + different substories - the combat is ass tho, no disputing that lol
Do yourself a favor, and mix up your combos. You can do different finishing moves by hitting heavy during your combo earlier or later. as fun as the uppercut finisher is, the gut punch and the overhand are great too, and the spin kick when you unlock the 5 hit combo is so satisfying.
I'm not sure if Darryl's performance is because he lacks range, or if the direction was bad. Considering this was an early 2000's dub, I'm going with the latter.
I dont know if you said it and I just missed it or not, but does this mean you're going to do Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 as their own videos separate from original yakuza 1 and 2?
I play Yakuza 1 on PS3 with the HD release, I prefer that to Kiwami. Also, Kiryu's name doesn't mean dragon? 桐生一馬 seems more like "live tree one horse"?
Hostess clubs...are interesting We used to have something similar in port towns here, most of them died out when the old age of shipping died out Driving around my city it's quite easy to identify the buildings that used to be such clubs
Ah. Good ol' early 2000s english dubs. A time when people went way too hard in both good and bad manners, and when they didn't seem like that "cared" at all. A lot of this can be contributed to the voice directors. You had many that did care and some that didn't care in the slightest. Most of the time, it's not really the VAs fault when it comes to their line reads. It's just how the director wanted it to be. Why would you wanna be a VA if that is your career path and don't give a rats ass about it? Other times it really is just bad casting in the directors part. Still, as you should in the clip of Darryl Kurylo in Like A Dragon, not only has his experience grown, but the voice direction has significantly improved as well. English dub of games don't have that weird pause or break or the feeling of it being forced or lazy. It's more natural sounding and feels more genuine. Compare what we heard here with the Big Green Dub of DBZ and compare that to how Kai or Super sounds. It's night and day.
I've been watching your GTA videos, Even though You slip some yakuza jokes in them i never expected You to Review them, also, i don't know why i aint subscribed yet 😅
There’s something about ps2 yakuza that has an unrivaled vibe to it, the dark hues give it that dark feel, majima actually being evil, the attention to detail in everything such as the reflection in the batting cage, clothes physics, and heat actions being just ordinary moves and not some major cutscene type of attacks.
Totally agree. Those who only played Kiwami missed alot. Also Majima in Kiwami was a clown, i remember i was unable to determine whether Majima was good or evil during the PS2 games.
Great video as always been watching for around about 6 months, and your videos and voice over work is great. Very entertaining! I’ve found myself gravitating towards your videos when I have projects to do to put on in the background while I work. Love the long format, your way of breaking down stories and plot points, and character breakdowns. Thanks Fuzzy! Edit: Fuzzy any plans on covering the uncharted series?
Nah Yakuza 1 eng dub is a hidden gem. So bad its good. Its much better in Judgement and Like a Dragon. Like a Dragon 8 might have to be a sub game for me because....mannnn im not a fan of the new Kiryu Dub VA. Idk what it is but its not it for me.
As someone who has been into yakuza for a long time now. If you like the originals kiwami and kiwami 2 are fuckin EXCEPTIONAL yakuza before 7 is top tier gaming. 10/10 all of them. And yes there are english dubs for all of them. But the best way is in Japanese with subtitles. Og yakuza 1 had mark Hamill as fuckin majima
First off, Yakuza 7 is really, really good. It can be better than any Yakuza before that because of the changes and additions. Second off, only a few Yakuza games have english dub, and its pretty mediocre. The only ones being Yakuza 7, Gaiden, Judgement and Lost Judgement (without mentioning Yakuza 1).
Hot take cause I know a lot of people got into the series with 0(I did too) but after replaying the entire series in release order I actually think that order is the way to go.
This game Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise Judgement Lost Judgement Yakuza Like a Dragon Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
2:00:01 I disagree, it is used though not explicitly in yakuza 6 with how there is a similar reveal when the boat happens, but kiryu is watching from the side instead of being directly involved and then he is there to reassure the ones grieving because he went through the exact same experience. I must agree that they indeed could’ve done a lot more with the idea, but not in the way you have expressed, Kiryu always recognised fuma as his father as there never was a reason not to, he is also responsible for forming Kiryu ‘s ideal of a yakuza, I’d see no reason for him to be manipulated as you have described. In 0 happens quite the opposite actually, he is manipulated by fuma there into unraveling the empty lot plot, also providing Kiryu the most comfortable out from the yakuza by introducing him to real estate. What I would personally like to see is maybe a substory tackling the other orphans of fuma, as we never see many and maybe they might hold a grudge that can never be resolved by the means of vengeance. Just an opinion though, good vid 👍
I hope one day they find the perfect Kiryu english va, I still have faith that Yong Yea may really make it work when i hear all of 8, but still i think there's a perfect voice out there.
Overall I enjoyed this game and think it’s good and it was my starting point, I don’t come back to it much and if I do I usually play the HD version, my first time was with the dub then I went through it again with restored patch and some time after on HD, combat is iffy but I can’t give it too much flack since it’s the first game, 2 improves on many aspects and personally is one of my favorites in the series.
Probably my favourite game franchise. Played them all few times through. But never played a dub version, always japanese with subtitles. And thank god, id of never stuck it out with the dub
I hope you upload the version in Japanese if you’re itching so bad. Release order is better. Other developers are a no no. If you’re a soldier in any Mafia, get all the way to meeting a rival boss, no only do you have plot armor, you’re lucky to live to tell the story.
