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[semiconscious]

yimbocarimbo's rgg5 guide: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/yimbocarimbo/RGG/Games/RGG5/index.htm

just completed part 1 (the kiryu/nagasugai section), including unlocking all activities & completing all the side missions, & the good news is that yc's guide makes the game very playable...

the bad news is the large absence of narrative, tho, for the most part, between the excellent voice acting, & the physical reactions of the characters, much of the main story line, at least, has been pretty easy to get a handle on...

anyway, the game's been unusually low-key up to this point - almost as tho this whole section's been some kinda prelude? could anyone who's played this tell me if things begin to pick up a little? for one thing, there's been no sign of a good villain up till now, which's strange...

it's not like i'm not enjoying it (i'm not sure it's actually possible for me to not enjoy these games ), but i'm just curious as to whether things eventually gear up a little from here...

 

[pje122]

This is sad that we have to resort to this....

 

[namDa65]

Is there a fan story translation. I would import the game and read along if that existed

 

[semiconscious]

This is sad that we have to resort to this....

no shit . it sucks...

but it's much better than nothing, & this guide's proven to be an amazing accomplishment. using thepatrick's gamefaqs guides, i did this with kenzan & y3 as well. &, weirdly enough, even having played it this way, kenzan remains my favorite yakuza game, so, for me, it's been worth it...

Is there a fan story translation. I would import the game and read along if that existed

i've looked pretty hard, & come up empty. basic, major story points are included in yc's guide (& little bits of dialog), but that's it...

 

[Storm360]

How Walkthroughy is the walkthrough? I prefer to play games without using guides, does it translate the story at all?

 

[semiconscious]

How Walkthroughy is the walkthrough? I prefer to play games without using guides, does it translate the story at all?

see above. i'm picking up on the story via character action/tone/reaction for the most part...

 

[Storm360]

see above. i'm picking up on the story via character action/tone/reaction for the most part...

Ah, misread...

I'd love for a story translations, one of the few things putting me off importing

 

[lupin23rd]

I've been playing through it as well, just up to the end of the Haruka / Akiyama storyline. Feel bad leaving it so long (picked it up day one) but I didn't want to play it on the 20 inch TV I had in Japan vs. my 50 inch back at home.

Kazuma's chapter does go a bit slow, but I feel the game picks up, even if each character does have a ramp up. They also seem to all end on a cliffhanger so I feel like the last chapter will be quite fast paced.

Are the question marks for sub stories new? Don't remember those. I still don't like chase battles but it seems you can drop kick now so that's cool.

Once you get out of the prison, Saejima's chapter picks up and I really liked his Another Story. (Another Story is like a second storyline for each character, Kaz has his taxi racing, Saejima hunting and trapping in the mountains, Haruka dance battling on the mean streets of Sotenbori. They are all really fleshed out and add a lot of content, and may be at fault as to why we aren't getting this...)

The Haruka stuff is pretty interesting, you still walk around like normal but get to do dance battles instead of fights, which are like rhythm mini games. The management stuff reminds me of idolmaster but is a lot lighter. LOL at some of the side activities as part of the idol storyline though. Meet and greets with fans having to hold hand shakes the right length of time? Haha Feel like this could be fleshed out into its own game (barring how it turns out in this one).

All in all really enjoying it so far, but want to wrap it up so I'm fresh for Ishin next year.

 

[semiconscious]

I've been playing through it as well...

thanks for the info . looking forward to the haruka battles...

yeah, the question marks are new (&, under these circumstances, very helpful). also enjoying the 'another story' stuff, which adds some variety to things - i suck at the car battles, but they are pretty funny...

just finished saejima's first chapter, & already feeling better about what's ahead. i think the kiryu section, as an opening, was almost too much of a downer. but, hey, if anyone's got the right to be a little moody/depressed at this point, i guess it's poor ol' kiryu ...

 

[semiconscious]

& done...

managed to complete most side missions, & a good chunk of the 'other dramas'. content-wise, this's the largest yakuza game, easily. &, story wise, the most elaborate (tho, from what i could follow, not necessarily the best)...

likes:
1) haruka, haruka, haruka. she may just be one of the best-developed secondary characters in gaming. very consistent from game to game, &, within the context of the series, very believable. her section of the game was surprisingly fun (& i suck at rhythm games), & funny...
2) not a big saejima fan, but his section was my favorite (& his 'other drama' was the only one interesting enough to get me to complete it)...
3) both the voice work & soundtrack were, as always, excellent. it's a tribute to the quality of the voice work that i could follow as much of the story as i was able to...

dislikes:
1) random encounter rate is broken - i mean, 2 (& sometimes, even 3) fights per block? not really a problem so much, as just eventually pretty damn boring...
2) as mentioned, an over-elaborate story doesn't necessarily equal a good one. while i'm sure the shinada section would've felt better had i been able to follow it better, it wasn't nearly as organically tied to the plot as the other parts, & kinda derailed things a little. probably unfair of me to say, tho...
3) the absence of a genuinely charismatic, physically intimidating enemy. not that one of the main bad guys

Spoiler

serizawa

isn't very well done, cuz he is. tho physically menacing, he's not ...

final impressions: well worth the effort. some of the usual elements ('tons of enemy' type fights, shirt-removal) felt a little tired at this point, but, hey, i'd probably complain if they weren't there at all, so i don't know . very happy i got to play & enjoy the experience - all praise to yimbocarimbo!...