For anime fans, there's a lot to look forward to in 2018. The year started out strong with Dragon Ball FighterZ, which is full of references to classic moments from Dragon Ball Z and a new story for fans to enjoy. But it's not the only anime game coming out this year; Sword Art Online, One Piece, Naruto, and more are all getting new games. Click forward to see all the games based on existing anime confirmed for 2018.
If you're curious about 2018 in general, you can check out our features on Switch exclusives, PS4 exclusives, Xbox One exclusives, and PC exclusives. There's also a wealth of exciting games coming out in 2018 that aren't necessarily exclusive to one platform or another, so be sure to check out our individual features highlighting the most anticipated PS4 games, Xbox One games, PC games, and Switch games for a broader look at the year ahead.
The latest game in the long-running Digimon series presents the mysterious backstory to the events that transpired in the first Cyber Sleuth RPG and features 320 Digimon from the animated series.
Developer: Media.Vision | Release Date: January 19 | PS4, Vita
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Based on the Dragon Ball series, this 2D fighter follows a 3v3 format and includes a new story and character. Dragon Ball FighterZ is developed by Arc System Works, best known for BlazBlue and Guilty Gear.
Developer: Arc System Works | Release Date: January 26 | PS4, Xbox One, PC
The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia
The first game based on the popular anime series, The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia tasks you with saving the Kingdom of Liones. It includes memorable fights from the series and popular characters, including Hawk, Elizabeth, and Meliodas.
Developer: Natsume Atari | Release Date: February 9 | PS4
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
The latest game based on hit anime Sword Art Online features an original story by series creator Reki Kawahara. The action-RPG has a greater emphasis on third-person shooting mechanics than previous games.
Developer: Dimps | Release Date: February 23 | PS4, Xbox One, PC
Attack on Titan 2
The next Attack on Titan game mainly covers the second season of the anime and includes over 30 playable characters from both seasons. Expect lots of Titan-slaying action, 3D maneuver gear, and more.
Developer: Koei Tecmo | Release Date: March 20 | Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC
Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time
Side-scrolling action game Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time lets you control series protagonist Akko as she explores her magical academy with her friends. The game will also include animated cutscenes by Studio Trigger.
Developer: A+ Games | Release Date: Spring 2018 | PS4, PC
Black Clover: Quartet Knights
A game based on 2017's Black Clover is coming in 2018, featuring four-player "magical combat" based around different characters' specializations.
Developer: Ilinix | Release Date: 2018 | PS4
My Hero Academia: One's Justice
The smash-hit superhero show My Hero Academia is getting a third season this year along with a video game. One's Justice is a fighting game with a manga flair.
Developer: Byking | Release Date: 2018 | Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC
Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker
In the next Naruto game, team up as a group of four and challenge other teams online to become the best ninja around.
Developer: Soleil Ltd. | Release Date: 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC
New Gundam Breaker
Like the previous Gundam Breaker games, New Gundam Breaker will let you build and customize Gunpla kits and then use them in battle.
Developer: Crafts and Meister | Release Date: 2018 | PS4
One Piece: Grand Cruise
Explore the Thousand Sunny and interact with the Straw Hat Pirates in VR in One Piece: Grand Cruise.
Release Date: 2018 | PSVR
One Piece: World Seeker
Like many One Piece games, World Seeker puts you in the role of Luffy and let you battle and more in an open-world environment.
Developer: Ganbarion | Release Date: 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC
Netflix's recent anime hit Devilman Crybaby has become one of the most talked-about anime releases for many years, and its weird and disturbing content has pushed back the boundaries of what viewers might expect to see on the streaming service.
But it's hardly the first anime series to feature controversial, disturbing, and outrageous content. There have been some truly jaw-dropping movies and shows released over the years--some are violent, some sexual, some just indescribably weird. So here are 11 other anime movies and series that delivered something different. And once you've checked this out, take a look out our list of the best horror anime to stream right now and the best anime on Netflix.
11. Angel's Egg (1985)
Mamoru Oshii is one of Japan's most acclaimed animation directors, whose credits include the original Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, and Urusei Yatsura. Before he made those classics he helmed Angel's Egg alongside artist Yoshitaka Amano, who would later become a prominent figure in the gaming world for his work on the Final Fantasy series. It's surely one of the weirdest anime films ever made--more a head-spinning psychedelic art instillation than a piece of narrative filmmaking, it follows a young girl as she wanders through a strange, post-apocalyptic world. Its bizarre, meditative tone is a world away from most of the other movies on the list, but in its own way it's every bit as subversive.
10. Urotsukidōji/Legend of the Overfiend (1986)
Urotsukidōji, also known as Legend of the Overfiend, was released in the US in the wake of Akira's break-out success, and for many new anime fans it was their first taste of how extreme things could get. It's based on Toshio Maeda's manga series, but director Hideki Takayama pushes the material much further. The story of a demonic beast in human form who comes to earth, it's packed with disturbing horror and sexual violence. As Takayama said when asked about Urotsukidōji's extreme content: "There is nothing that arouses a stronger response in human beings than either sex or violence. A mixture of the two is very powerful indeed."
9. Violence Jack: Evil Town (1988)
A year after he first unleashed Devilman on the world, manga pioneer Go Nagai returned with another controversial creation. Violence Jack is a mighty warrior who dispenses violent justice in a world that has been destroyed by natural disasters. The character might not have had the impact of Devilman, but he did inspire a variety of manga titles over the years, as well as three separate anime video releases. The middle of these was Violence Jack: Evil Town, and it was by far the most controversial. The depiction of rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia led the feature to be cut in many countries, and it was banned outright in Australia.
8. Genocyber (1993)
A wild, blood-drenched cyberpunk series, the Genocyber of the title is the crazed fusing of two sisters into one futuristic killing machine. Genocyber is not only unrelentingly violent but incredibly mean-spirited too, with dozens of innocent men, women, and children blown apart by heavy weaponry throughout the course of its five episodes.
7. Biohunter (1995)
Biohunter is hardly a classic, but it did receive a fairly wide VHS release in the US during the 1990s, and is notable for coming from famed anime studio Madhouse, who later produced several masterpieces from the late, great Satoshi Kon, including Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and the Paranoia Agent series. And, of course, Biohunter is really violent. Two scientists fight against humans who are infected with murderous demonic powers. The dialogue and plotting is pretty dull, but when to comes to the gore, the series more than delivers, with the infected creatures ripping, tearing and mutilating anything that crosses their path.
6. Berserk (1997)
While many of the manga adaptations on this list increased the violent and sexual content from their original sources, the acclaimed 25-episode series Berserk actually toned down some of the manga's more extreme moments. But don't worry, there's still plenty of wild, gory mayhem in this absorbing blend of sci-fi and dark fantasy about a young mercenary called Guts. There was also a 2016 CGI remake, but it's the '90s classic that anime fans should seek out.
5. Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
One of the most challenging and often impenetrable anime series ever made, Serial Experiments Lain is a stunningly designed cyberpunk nightmare about a young girl and her experiences within a social media network known as the Wired. While many titles on the list alienated viewers with their violent content, Lain does it through its uncompromising tone, brain-scrambling philosophical concepts, and disorientating visuals.
4. Mind Game (2004)
More than a decade before he took on directing duties of Devilman Crybaby, Masaaki Yuasa delivered this crazy, unique, incredible animated movie. It's the story of a young man who has a run-in with gangsters and finds himself trapped in a psychedelic limbo. Mind Game constantly switches animation styles, from basic line drawings and more traditional styles to wild techniques involving CGI and live-action footage. It won much acclaim and many awards, and it remains one of the most jaw-droppingly mad slices of anime of recent years.
3. Mnemosyne (2008)
Also known as a RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne, this is a sleazy detective story set in a futuristic Tokyo about the immortal, indestructible private investigator Rin and her assistant Mimi. There is a complicated supernatural conspiracy plot that centers around Rin's past, but the show is more concerned with delivering an explicit sex scene every ten minutes--plus plenty of impressively animated splatter sequences.
2. Gyo: Fish Attack (2012)
Gyo is a demented, surreal, and frequently offensive B-movie homage about walking, metal-legged sea creatures who emerge from the sea to attack humans. There are some serious themes about the dangers of pollution and chemical weapons in there, but for the most part they take second place to the sight of giant cybernetic sharks and octopus causing all sorts of gruesome mayhem on the streets of Tokyo.
1. Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (2013)
The Japanese survival horror video game Corpse Party has inspired any number of spin-offs: manga, audiobooks, theme park rides, live-action movies, and two anime versions--Corpse Party: Missing Footage and the follow-up Tortured Souls. Both fully deliver on the graphically violent promise of the game. A group of school kids and their teacher fall into a terrifying alternate universe filled with torture, murder, mutilation, and gallons of gore. It's not exactly good, but it sure is memorable.
In the year since its release, Jordan Peele's Get Out has achieved a number of things. It was the most profitable movie of 2017, making more than $254 million at the worldwide box office from a budget of just $4.5 million. It was one of the best reviewed horror movies of the year, and has secured four Oscar nominations, more than any other horror film since The Exorcist in 1973.
But its well-deserved success also highlighted how few horror movies have been made by black filmmakers over the decades. In fact, Peele himself spoke about this last year, when he reached out to upcoming black directors with an interest in horror to get in touch with him with the hope that that he can get their projects off the ground. Hopefully Get Out's success will see a new generation of black filmmakers get a chance to see their terrifying visions onscreen.
That doesn't mean there are no notable horror films from black directors. Here are 11 well worth seeing--some brilliant, some less so, but they all have their place in the history of horror.
11. Blacula (1972)
William Crain was one of the first African American filmmakers to graduate from a major film school--in his case, UCLA--and score mainstream success within the industry. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Crain wasn't initially interested in exploring political and social themes; he just wanted to sell tickets. And he certainly did that with Blacula, a blaxploitation spin on the story of Dracula that was one of 1973's biggest grossing movies. Viewed today, it's a formulaic and dated film, but its impact was considerable, and kickstarted a whole wave of scary movies aimed at black audiences.
10. Ganja and Hess (1973)
Ganja and Hess now stands as one of the finest independent horror movies of the 1970s, but this is a reputation it's only acquired over the past few years, helped by a long-overdue blu-ray release and a recent Spike Lee remake. It's an eerie vampire yarn directed by playwright Bill Gunn and was the only other starring role for Duane Jones, the star of Night of the Living Dead. Ganja and Hess is a weird, atmospheric love story between a rich anthropologist-turned-bloodsucker and the widow of a man he has killed. Gunn was given full creative control by producers who just wanted a black vampire film to cash in on the blaxploitation craze. Instead they got a haunting, oblique, and wildly uncommercial masterpiece and that was as much a study of race, class and religious hypocrisy as it was a vampire movie.
9. Dr Black, Mr Hyde (1976)
While William Crain's Blacula was a straightforward horror comedy, his second blaxploitation horror did attempt to tackle some weightier themes. In this update of Robert Louise Stevenson's classic horror tale, a black scientist is transformed into a rampaging white maniac, killing drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the ghettos of Los Angeles. Subtle, it is not.
8. Black Devil Doll From Hell (1984)
Written in three days and shot on VHS by Chester Novell Turner, who took a correspondence course to learn how to make a movie, Black Devil Doll From Hell is sordid, sleazy, and unbelievably amateurish. But there's nothing else quite like it, and it's picked up something of a cult reputation in the years since its initial release. A religious young woman wants to remain a virgin until her wedding night, but unfortunately the purchase of a haunted doll (designed to look like '80s funkster Rick James) transforms her into a sex-crazed lunatic. In more recent years Turner has expressed an interest in making a sequel, but sadly--or perhaps, thankfully--this is yet to happen.
7. Def By Temptation (1990)
James Bond III was a bit-part actor whose credits included the '70s TV version of Wonder Woman, B.J. and the Bear, and Spike Lee's School Daze. In 1990 he gained his sole directing credit with Def By Temptation, which he also wrote, produced, and starred in. It's the story of a trainee minister whose faith is tested when he becomes the target of an evil seductress in contemporary New York. Def By Temptation is very low budget, but it's marked by a smart, subversive script, stylish visuals, and stand-out performances, including an early role from Samuel L. Jackson. It's just a shame that Bond never made a second movie.
6. Tales From Da Hood (1995)
Rusty Cundieff is best known as a comedy director, and his credits include the hip-hop spoof Fear of a Black Hat and a lengthy stint on Chappelle's Show in the 2000s. But in 1995, he directed this horror anthology, which dealt with some pretty heavy themes. Each of the four stories tackled a different contemporary concern--like police brutality, domestic violence, and gang warfare--and placed it in a supernatural horror context. It's an effective, underrated mix of scares, dark humor, and social commentary that feels every bit as relevant now as it did 20 years ago.
5. Demon Knight (1995)
The most prolific black filmmaker to have worked in horror over the years is Ernest Dickerson. Dickerson became known for his work as a cinematographer on Spike Lee's early movies, but while his debut film Fresh (1992) was similar in subject matter to Lee's movies, his subsequent work in cinema and TV has frequently embraced horror. His 1995 film Demon Knight is a wildly entertaining horror comedy, spun off from HBO's Tales from the Crypt series. A drifter holes up in a weird motel after stealing an ancient key, and is soon besieged by demonic forces eager to get it back. It's a fast-paced, exciting, and funny ride that proved Dickerson's love of the genre.
4. Bones (2001)
While most '90s rappers-turned-actors stuck to urban thrillers and comedies, Bones was the exception. Starring Snoop Dogg and directed by Ernest Dickerson once more, this was as much a blaxploitation homage as it was a contemporary horror flick. Snoop plays Jimmy Bones, a well-liked crook who is killed by cops in 1979. 22 years later, Bones returns to--you guess it--seek his revenge. Snoop isn't exactly the scariest of horror anti-heroes, but it's a fun collision of horror, social satire, and some top-notch hip-hop.
3. Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus (2015)
Spike Lee isn't a director known for horror, but in 2015 he applied his talents to a remake of Ganja and Hess. As a movie, the results were a little disappointing. Storywise it's a very faithful remake, but Gunn's unique dreamlike style is replaced by a flat TV-movie look, and Lee adds nothing thematically interesting to this potent blend of horror and drama. But Lee's high profile meant that the original movie received some mainstream attention, and hopefully curious viewers will have checked out Gunn's original masterpiece.
2. Get Out (2017)
It wasn't surprising that Jordan Peele would make his directing debut with a horror movie, given the comedian's fondness of genre pastiches on Key & Peele. But no one could have predicted the huge impact of Get Out. The overwhelmingly positive critical reaction was matched by an amazing box office haul, and Peele prove himself adept at combining highly relevant social themes with a movie that was funny, tense, and scary.
1. Kuso (2017)
Director Steven Ellison is better known as musician Flying Lotus, but even fans who expected his directing debut to be as ambitious and inventive as his albums might have been taken aback by Kuso. A post-apocalyptic psychedelic horror comedy, the movie bombards the viewer with a non-stop cavalcade of gruesome body horror, slapstick laughs, animation, puppetry, musical sequences, bodily fluids, disturbing VFX, and all manner of sexual perversity. It caused numerous walkouts when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year, but if you ever wanted to see funk master George Clinton produce a giant cockroach from his anus, this is the movie for you.
When you first pop into the free, competitive multiplayer Battle Royale version of Fortnite--without first buying its cooperative counterpart--you'll find a lot that doesn't get explained. Fortnite: Battle Royale has no tutorial, so it's up to players to discover its nuances, mostly through trial and error, spectating other players, and dying. The Battle Royale mode also features a whole bunch of guns, materials, structures, and items to learn about and understand, as well as how they interact with each other and the game's systems.
Fortnite is full of little tricks and idiosyncrasies that aren't immediately obvious, especially with its emphasis on gathering resources and building structures as part of its combat. Once you know them, however, they'll make you a much more effective player. Here are the 12 things we wish we knew about Fortnite: Battle Royale before we started playing.
Whenever you start hammering away at a wall, tree, or pile of rocks to gather resources, you'll notice that a weird blue icon appears on the thing you're smacking. That little marker turns gathering resources into something more active than just holding a button down for a few seconds. You want to move your crosshair over each new blue icon with every swing of your pickaxe. This earns you the most resources you can get with each hit, and increases your harvesting efficiency--which means you'll grab more building materials and leave yourself less vulnerable.
The Shotgun Is Highly Effective
It shouldn't always be your main weapon, but it's a pretty good idea for you to have a shotgun on-hand whenever possible--even a weak one. Fortnite's shotguns have decent range and a big spread (at least for the time being), which means they're great catch-all guns for dropping already-injured targets. Time and again, we've seen players use shotguns as the clean-up hitter of their arsenal; they might fire a rocket in the vicinity of an enemy to knock out their shield, or hit them with a rifle as they close the gap, but the shotgun is often the weapon that closes the deal. Don't be afraid to use it at close- to mid-range. And aim high, because headshots can be very painful.
Crouch And Shoot
A lot of the guns in Fortnite aren't quite as accurate as in some other shooters, and that can make for tough fights, especially when you engage players at long-range. It's possible to increase your guns' accuracy in a lot of cases, though. Whenever possible to do so safely, keep still and crouch--it'll increase your accuracy, helping you take down other players more quickly. That doesn't mean you should stop dodging and stand still in the open during a heated battle... but if you spot someone on the move and are thinking about opening fire on them, you'll have an advantage if you get low and keep still.
Build To Save Yourself From Falling
Fall damage is a big deal in Fortnite. High locations are good places to set up and watch for other players, and when you get good at building, going vertical and taking the high ground is a very effective strategy. Falling off those places can be deadly, though, since shields don't absorb fall damage. Always remember that you can save yourself by using the build menu to quickly drop structures beneath you as you fall; so long as you're close enough to the wall of a tower or a cliff, you can instantly build a floor or ramp beneath you that can stop your descent and save you from certain doom. Use this trick to quickly make your escape from fortifications when someone starts shooting at you with rockets, or when you need to descend a cliff in a hurry. It's a lot easier than trying to find items to heal yourself.
Shield Potions Are Essential
Finding good guns is one thing... but really, the best way to make it through any given fight is to find shield potions. Fortnite doesn't effectively explain how its health system works, but the handiest thing to know is that blue shield potions make you more resilient to incoming fire, and they make a world of difference in any given firefight. As you loot in Fortnite, always drink shield potions right away to fire up a shield immediately, and stockpile the potions that you can't use immediately. They're worth carrying around; your character can drink a small shield potion in about two seconds, which is just fast enough to get you back on your feet as you duck around a corner or build a few quick walls to escape from an enemy.
You Have An Inventory Screen
It's not immediately apparent if you haven't played Fortnite's Save the World mode, but you have more than just the small inventory rundown at the bottom of your screen. You can access a much bigger, more detailed inventory menu--find it by pressing Up on the directional pad if you're playing with a controller, or "I" on a keyboard--and it shows everything you're carrying, including how much ammo of each type you have. The inventory menu gives you rundowns of your guns' statistics, including effective range and damage per second, which can help you decide what to hold onto and what to toss. That's the other handy thing about the inventory menu: It offers you the option to drop weapons onto the ground. Use that to hand off guns, items, or ammo to your teammates, or just to organize your inventory so that you always play with guns and items of specific types in the same slots. The repetition of knowing where you keep heals or certain guns can make it a lot easier for you to switch in a hurry.
Use Bushes And Trees For Concealment
Fortnite's cartoonish art style means that player silhouettes are pretty obvious at a distance--especially when you add in the dust trails left by sprinting across open ground. But you can find a few good places to hide, especially if you're smart about it. While many bushes are solid, you can slip inside some of them, which mostly conceals your character and make you tough to spot at a distance. The same is true of many pine trees, which you can generally duck beneath; these offer decent concealment, especially from above. Stealth can take you a long way if you're patient and don't move too much when sneaking up on people. By the same token, don't ignore those light green bushes around you. Smart players treat them like they might always be concealing someone, especially in the endgame of a match. Putting a shot or two into a bush will quickly reveal if anyone is hiding in it: Watch for the blue flash of their shield taking damage.
Throw Up Some Walls To Protect Downed Teammates
Once you hear it, it seems like a no-brainer, but this is one of those things that's easy to forget if you're used to playing other Battle Royale games. In Fortnite, you want to try to think about how you can solve problems by building--and creating a few quick fortifications can buy you precious extra seconds while you heal a teammate who has been knocked down by gunfire. Just remember to use wood if you're currently under fire; it'll build the fastest, and it can take the most punishment from other players immediately after being deployed. If you're in a rough battle situation, though, you might need multiple layers (or you might just need to leave your friend hanging while you take out the attackers).
Open Doors (Usually) Mean A Place Has Been Looted
Savvy players know that doors can tell you a lot. An open door on a building might mean someone's inside; more often, it means that someone has at least been through that building and taken all the good stuff already. By the same token, closing doors behind you is a good way to throw off other players, or to catch the unwary in ambshes. In our experience, not only are the outer doors of untouched buildings always closed in Fortnite, but so are the inner ones. If you step into a structure that you think is full of loot and start seeing open doors between rooms, it should put you on guard--it might mean someone is lying in wait ahead. Open doors are also a good indicator of buildings that you can skip altogether, to avoid wasting time searching places that have little to offer.
Traps Are A Thing
Traps are a holdover from the cooperative campaign version of Fortnite, and they pop up in Battle Royale to change some situations significantly. You'll find them occasionally in loot drops or certain locations (like mines), and you can deploy them on structures. They don't have a ton of uses, since so much of the Battle Royale experience consists of quickly hurrying from one building to the next, looting as fast as you can--but they do come up every now and then. Traps are great for leaving behind in a seemingly unlooted building in order to ruin the day of someone following you, or to place on your towers to dissuade anyone sneaking up below you. When heading into buildings, it's good practice to stand beside the front door and look inside to check for an ambush; when you do that, take a glance upward too, to ensure you're not about to stumble into somebody else's devilish plan.
The Boogie Bomb Is The Best
If you find the elusive grenade known as the Boogie Bomb, grab it. This thing is the goofiest weapon you can add to your arsenal in Fortnite right now, and it's hilarious as well as useful. When it explodes, everyone caught in its radius is forced to start dancing for five seconds, leaving them completely vulnerable to you cruising up and taking them out. It's especially handy for when you find a couple of other players already battling it out--with one bomb and a quick trigger finger, you can humiliate your opponents, eliminate them, and steal all their stuff.
Getting Good At Building Is How You Win
Grappling with all of Fortnite's systems can be tough--especially if you're using a controller. Between switching guns and building structures, the game has a lot of buttons to keep track of, and a lot of items to switch through with the shoulder buttons. But no matter what platform they're using, the best Fortnite players are expert builders. They've trained themselves through repetition to quickly construct walls, towers, bridges, and ramps in order to save their lives in the heat of battle, or give themselves a ridiculous advantage using height and cover. Though Fortnite has a lot in common with other Battle Royale games like PUBG, building is what sets it apart. If you come to this game expecting to play it like PUBG, you're going to get shut down over and over again by players who've learned to love carpentry. Get good at farming resources quickly and erecting structures even faster, if you want to be competitive!
Players who are keen on winning have a lot of things to keep in mind if they want to succeed in Fortnite: Battle Royale. The game marries the last-player-standing multiplayer competition of the battle royale genre with resource-gathering and building mechanics, and knowing the ins and outs of both are the only way to win. Not only do you need to outsmart and outgun other players-- you need to effectively use your building capabilities to traverse the map, fortify your positions, and beat out the competition.
Players who've been around the block in Fortnite's single-player campaign have no doubt picked up a lot of tactics, strategies, and pieces of information that can help elevate them to multiplayer success. For everyone else, it can be tough to pick up on all of Fortnite's idiosyncrasies and hidden bits of information--especially since the free Battle Royale mode doesn't include a tutorial. Use these 10 tips to get an edge over the other 99 players in your Fortnite: Battle Royale match.
It really is tough to overestimate how crucial sound is in Fortnite. You'll use it to catch people sneaking up on you, zero in on enemies who are shooting at you, and track players for ambushes. You're at a disadvantage listening to the game over your computer speakers, TV speakers, or even a sound system, when compared to players who are armed with a quality pair of surround sound headphones. Sound is possibly the best tool in your arsenal in Fortnite, so make sure you're able to use it as effectively as possible.
Speed Is Key Early On
As you get the hang of the map, you'll want to move as fast as you can to find good weapons early. That starts with your jump from the game's flying party bus at the beginning of each match: If you're confident in your fighting abilities, pick a spot with lots of buildings, and dive straight for it. Avoid falling over hills and other high-elevation areas, as these will cause your glider to auto-deploy sooner than if you dive toward lower-elevation spots like water or canyons. The idea is to fall to earth as fast as you can, so that you can beat other players to the guns--and take them down.
While it's good for new players to close doors behind them to protect themselves, once you're used to the flow of the game, you don't have to worry about hiding yourself nearly as much. Get into a building, find what's useful, and move on as fast as you can--the ol' "loot and scoot" approach. Acquiring high-quality guns early will set you up for success against players who have weaker gear than you, so get used to moving on to new locations quickly, and looting as much as you can as fast as you can. Just be cautious about it, so that you don't bumble into an ambush.
Don't Pick Up Everything
Among the best habits you can make as you advance your Fortnite career is to be discerning about what you pick up and what you leave behind. It's tempting to snatch up everything you come across--because you never know when you might want to switch between a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun, right? In practice, though, you'll probably use one or two guns for most of a match, unless you've got the rarer and more useful ones like sniper rifles, miniguns, and rocket launchers. Having a handful of white or green pistols that you don't intend to use will just slow you down when it comes time to switch out for better loot. Instead, make quick decisions about what you need and what you don't, and act accordingly. Stopping to manage your inventory can leave you vulnerable, so grab only what you really need, and learn to ignore the less useful loot. Also: While you have to manually pick up weapons and items, ammo gets picked up automatically... so if you're looking at a pile of loot and all you want are the bullets, save time by just running over it to avoid accidentally picking up the wrong stuff.
Double Up Your Guns For Added Damage
While you're being discerning about what guns you pick up, remember that two of the same weapon can actually be pretty useful--particularly when it comes to the pump shotgun and the bolt-action sniper rifle. By having two of these guns in adjacent inventory slots, you can avoid the wait between shotgun pumps or sniper reloads, and instead just switch to your second version of the gun to fire a second shot immediately. The quick switch can be tough to get used to, but with the power that this move affords you, it's worth training yourself to switch rather than wait to reload. It's a great way to maximize your lethality against other players.
Chop Down Trees For More Wood
Where you get your materials matters. Especially early on, you want to grab as much wood as you can manage, as it's highly useful in battles and for protection. You can bash down buildings and break up boxes for wood with your pickaxe--but as it happens, these dispense less wood than trees. Pick the right tree, and you can gather up 40-plus units of wood from a single node, quickly filling up your materials and giving you plenty to use in a pinch. Pine trees whose green portions reach close to the ground tend to be the best, but it's worth experimenting as you play, to learn where on the map you can get the most materials fastest.
The same is true with other materials. Brick walls yield some brick, but piles of rocks out in the wilderness are even better. You can also get a decent haul of metal from destroying vehicles, but be wary: Sometimes, smashing up a car will set off its alarm, which can draw other players to your location.
Wood Trumps Metal (In Certain Cases)
Materials in Fortnite have a few little quirks. Generally, wood is the weakest material, while brick is a little stronger, and metal is the strongest. In practice, this means that wood structures can take the least amount of damage before they break altogether, brick structures have more health than wood, and metal structures have the most health. Heavier materials come with drawbacks, though. Brick structures take longer to build (and reach full health) than wood structures do, and metal takes the longest.
Wood really shines when it comes to quickly dropping walls in the middle of a firefight. The thing is, a freshly spawned, incomplete wood wall starts with more health than a freshly spawned, incomplete brick or metal wall (100 health points for the wood, 70 for the brick or metal). That means a wood wall can save you from more shots when you're building in the heat of battle than the other two materials. The easiest way to think about it is this: A fresh wood wall will collapse after two close-range shotgun blasts when you first drop it; a brick or metal wall will collapse after only one shotgun blast. Use wood for firefights, and save your brick and metal for stronger fortifications closer to the end of a match.
Take (Or Build) The High Ground
High ground will win you fights in Fortnite, and that doesn't just mean high hills or cliffs--although these offer better vantage points in general. In firefights, practice quickly building upward as you fight enemies. You can drop walls and then ramps to protect yourself as you climb, and shooting down on other players nets you more headshots and damage, while offering you better protection. Quickly making a ramp surrounded by walls means that you can jump up and take potshots at enemies below while also making yourself extremely tough to hit. When you can, build up for the advantage... and if the other player is trying to get above you, try to get higher or force them to change locations, to take their advantage away. Just make sure to quickly pop wood walls in front of your ramps, lest the other player blast them out from under you. Hitting the bottom of a ramp will collapse it, and the damage you take from falling could cost you the fight (and the match).
Watch For (And Mark) Supply Drops
Every so often, the flying bus will drop a supply crate. The crates' drop positions are marked by blue smoke grenades on the ground, and they float down on balloons once they're dropped. These crates contain some of the best loot in the game, including the minigun and rocket launcher, so they're definitely worth your attention--but they're likely to attract other players, too.
Supply drops are great places for an ambush, and one way to pin down where the drop will be is to "mark" it. Like just about everything in Fortnite, supply drops are destructible, and you can damage their balloons from afar with your gun. Doing so causes the crate's health bar to pop up, which stays on your screen even if structures or other things obstruct your line of sight to the crate itself. Marking crates means that you can more easily get to them when they hit the ground, but be ready to fight anyone else with the same idea.
Use The Storm To Your Advantage
The ever-advancing storm--the circle that constantly contracts to make the play area smaller and smaller--is a danger that you constantly need to avoid in Fortnite. It also affords some benefits, however. While the storm damages you when you're in it, for much of any given match, that damage is not immediately deadly. You can sometimes use this tactically; the edge of the storm is a great place to catch desperate players as they scramble to get to safety. Conversely, you might be able to duck through the tough-to-see-through edge early in the match to lose anyone in the eye of the storm who's battling you (although that's a tough gamble, and not for everyone).
Especially in a match's endgame, the storm can be a tool as much as it is a danger. It lets you ensure that you won't be attacked from behind when you keep close to its edge. If you're more centrally located and can take up a good position, the shrinking circle can help you as it forces players to either take storm damage, or move toward you and open themselves up to attack. It's important to always stay aware of the circle--but as the match draws toward its end, keep thinking about where you can set yourself up to use the storm as a weapon against your enemies.
Complete Daily Challenges To Earn V-Bucks
V-Bucks are Fortnite's premium currency, which can be used to purchase cosmetic items to make your character wear cooler clothes or deploy more fun emotes. The best way to get an effective amount of V-Bucks is to buy them with real money. If you're willing to put in the time, it's also possible to earn a few just by playing the game--but it'll take you a while.
Playing Fortnite earns you experience points based on your performance in a match, and each time you earn enough, you level up, which earns you one "Battle Star." After grabbing 10 Battle Stars, you advance to a new "tier," and at certain tiers, you unlock new emotes and other items. It's possible to earn tiers faster by completing Daily Challenges, which are listed on the Lobby screen when you log into Fortnite. Challenges require you to complete special actions, like killing a set number of players with a specific gun. Challenges give you a bunch of experience points and five Battle Stars for completing them, which can help you earn tiers a lot quicker. If you're playing for free, you can earn 100 V-Bucks roughly every 14 tiers (which isn't very much).
Your return on investment is slightly better if you pony up the money to purchase the V-Bucks for a "Battle Pass," which will run you 950 V-Bucks--or a little less than $10 ($9.99 buys you 1,000 V-Bucks). The Battle Pass puts you on a different, much more rewarding tier track, allowing you to earn a lot more cosmetic gear as you level up. The Battle Pass track also includes V-Bucks, dishing out 100 V-Bucks once about every seven tiers, but it also comes with experience point boosts that can get you there quicker.
Splatoon 2's babes Pearl and Marina are finally getting their own Amiibo figures.
The announcement comes after the Koshien Tournament in Japan, where the two preformed a "live" hologram concert with the Squid Sisters Callie and Marie. Footage of that concert can be found on Nintendo Wire.
In true Amiibo fashion, these two figures are just as detailed and colorful as the rest of the line. You can check out the duo in "squidtacular detail" in the video above. We don't know when the pair will release or what they'll unlock, but we do know they'll come in a 2-pack for $24.99.
In other Splatoon 2 news, a new map called the Goby Arena is coming to the rotation soon. Returning to the sporty theme, this map is essentially a giant basketball court. The new set of dualies, the Dark Tetra Dualies, will also release soon. The special ability with these is that they allow your inkling to execute four consecutive dodge rolls.
The team behind Friday the 13th has been promising a single player mode for some time now, and it looks like we've finally gotten a peek. The video above is the first look at the title's single player challenges, and best of all, they're going to come free.
Revealed via Twitter, the new demo showcases Jason's brutal killings of two teens, Bugsy and Adam, attempting to fix their broken-down car. The trailer doesn't reveal much information on the new mode, as it is taken from a development build. But we do know it will be free, and the team hopes to eventually add unlockable targets and new maps. There is currently no confirmed release date.
This isn't the first we've seen from Friday the 13th's offline play. Back in December, the team released an update that added offline bots, among other things. It wasn't a fully fleshed-out single player mode, but the single player challenges might eventually fill that void.
Of all the Sega properties still relevant this decade, none have had the staying power of Ryu Ga Gotoku, which translates to 'Like A Dragon'. The series is more commonly known in the West as Yakuza. Compared to the wildly inconsistent Sonic franchise and the infrequent releases of Valkyria Chronicles sequels, Yakuza emerged as the most prolific series for the Japanese developer-publisher in its post-hardware era. If you count remasters, remakes, and spin-offs--some of which have never come out in the West--Ryu Ga Gotoku has averaged slightly more than one release every year since its introduction in 2005. As Yakuza, the series hits a milestone in 2018 as the story arc of its mainstay protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, reaches its conclusion in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. We thought this would be a fitting time to look back on this franchise in our History Of series.
A Well-Planned Debut
Yakuza was the brainchild of Sega veteran Toshihiro Nagoshi, the hard-as-nails director behind Daytona and Super Monkey Ball. He envisioned a gritty drama complemented by a sense of humanity in both its storytelling and characters. The game would revolve around the Japanese criminal underworld of the yakuza, exploring the power struggles between rival groups as well as their tenuous relationships with foreign organizations. The yakuza's fixation to their code of honor would play a huge part in the series' many stories. How its key characters adhere to or struggle with this code led to some of Yakuza's most compelling narrative moments.
Development began as 'Project J', where Nagoshi assembled a team of Sega developers proficient in both arcade games like Virtua Fighter and Super Monkey Ball as well as more story-driven consoles titles like Panzer Dragoon and Jet Set Radio.
Nagoshi's team needed a setting befitting a Japanese mafia tale. They settled on Kabukicho, the red-light district of Tokyo's Shinjuku ward, for their inspiration. Fictionally renamed as Kamurocho, this lively but modestly sized open world would become a staple location of every mainline Yakuza sequel. Much of the city's immense staying power is thanks to its similarities to its real-life counterpart; this sense of virtual tourism would permeate through all of the series' other locales. And like avid travellers revisiting Japan, fans--upon revisiting Kamurocho in sequels--would notice and appreciate both the clear and subtle changes to the landscape as storefronts disappear or relocate. The moment you start a new Yakuza and the initial exposition gives way to free roaming, you feel like you've returned to a theme park you haven't visited in years, wondering what has changed, whether that's an renovated batting center or a new selection of arcade titles at Club Sega.
Much of the city's immense staying power is thanks to its similarities to its real-life counterpart; this sense of virtual tourism would permeate through all of the series' other locales.
As the recurring locale, Kamurocho became a character itself, always reflective of its respective time periods. Banter among its locals provides color and context to Tokyo as it was in 2005, 2016 and every other year the games have been set in. Adding further personality to this district are the myriad optional substories triggered by Kamurocho's many NPCs, the subject matter of which ranges from light-hearted to absurdly funny. Last but not least, this district would be inextricably tied to Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza's main protagonist.
We're introduced to Kiryu--nicknamed The Dragon of Dojima--in the first Yakuza as an up and coming member of the Tojo Clan. His plans to one day start his own crime family are derailed early in the game when he takes the fall for a murder he didn't commit. This was done to protect his best friend, Akira Nishikiyama as well as Kiryu's lifelong love interest, Yumi Sawamura. Within the first hour of playing Yakuza, our hero ages 10 years in prison, is expelled from the Tojo Clan, and returns to a Kamurocho that is both familiar and foreign. Meanwhile, he meets Haruka, a 9 year-old orphan. She is somehow tied to Kiryu's former crime family, which is undergoing a tumultuous period of unrest due to the disappearance of 10 billion yen from the Tojo Clan and the assassination of the Tojo chairman who was investigating the missing money.
In a period where one word game titles like Prey, Gun, and Bully were very much in vogue, 'Yakuza' was effective in making Ryu Ga Gotoku marketable in the West. Yet in retrospect, the continued focus on Kiryu's personal journey makes this title inadequate. Here we find a hero who--in his youth--was drawn to the gangster lifestyle yet has been spending bulk of his adulthood trying to leave it. From the get go we learn that his drive to protect those he loves supersedes any kind of Yakuza code of honor. This gets more complicated due to the father-daughter relationship he quickly forms with Haruka, who stays inextricably tied to Kiryu for the rest of the series. This bond is all the more strengthened by their common upbringings as orphans.
Yakuza would also introduce Goro Majima, a fan-favorite character who would be more beloved than even Kiryu to some. His psychotic tendencies are only overshadowed by his flamboyant charisma, attributes that have only been amplified in future appearances. Kiryu's relationship to Goro plus other recurring characters--like the detective-turned-journalist, Makoto Date--elevates a growing ensemble cast that become as memorable as any you'll find in Dragon Age or Gears of War.
Kiryu's relationship to Goro plus other recurring characters--like the detective-turned-journalist, Makoto Date--elevates a growing ensemble cast that become as memorable as any you'll find in Dragon Age or Gears of War.
And with the announcement of the English voice cast, you could not have picked a better fit than Joker veteran Mark Hamill as the maniacal Goro. Another notable actor was Michael Madsen, whose work on gangster films like Reservoir Dogs and The Getaway made him a natural fit for a brute like Futoshi Shimano, one of the game's major bosses. Eliza Dushku also proved a match for Yumi. It was a clear message from Sega of America of their well-intentioned efforts to introduce Ryu Ga Gotoku to the West. That said, the localization came with a forced hard edge, featuring more swearing and gangster posturing than the Japanese version. As if to fully own the Yakuza name, this English script played up the game's criminal element more than what the original writers intended.
A Series Is Born
As Sega of America was localizing Yakuza, fans in Japan were treated to the series' first spin-off, a film by the prolific and renowned director Takashi Miike as well as a shorter prologue film. These movies were fitting tie-ins to a game with strong cinematic qualities. The Yakuza games' filmic storytelling would only get better as the series made its way to the PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles, rendering the idea of additional film adaptations obsolete. These later games would go on to use known actors familiar to Japanese audiences like Riki Takeuchi, Hitoshi Ozawa, and even New Japan Pro Wrestling stars playing as themselves. This would culminate in Yakuza 6 with the casting of one of the country's biggest celebrities, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, who has directed and starred in his share of gangster films.
Capitalizing on Yakuza's success, a sequel naturally followed. Whether it was a financial decision or an attempt to provide a more authentic experience, Yakuza 2 was released in the West with no English voice acting, preserving the original Japanese audio.
Whereas the main conflict among the yakuza in the first game was from within the Tojo Clan, Yakuza 2 explored their struggles in maintaining peace with outside organizations, not just with other clans in Japan but also a crime group from Korea. It's a dispute that takes part of the story to Osaka, particularly the tourist magnet of Dotonbori, now fictionalized as Sotenbori.
It also continues to portray Kiryu as the reluctant gangster who doesn't hesitate to take the fight to his aggressors when his loved ones are threatened. He exhibits shades of Michael Corleone, though the Godfather never had someone as loving and kind-hearted as Haruka to keep him grounded. Wanting to get out but only to be pulled back in is a dilemma Kiryu faces time and time again, all the way to Yakuza 6. While this repetitiveness is amusing, it's never to the detriment of each game's respective story. After all, it's satisfying to see Kiryu take out his frustrations on his inability to escape his yakuza roots by beating up countless gangsters in finely tailored suits. All he wants to do live out the rest of his life with Haruka and the orphans they watch over in Sunshine Orphanage, which the two establish in Okinawa.
Wanting to get out but only to be pulled back in is a dilemma Kiryu faces time and time again, all the way to Yakuza 6. While this repetitiveness is amusing, it's never to the detriment of each game's respective story.
And given all the peacemaking Kiryu does with his fists, Sega would continue to refine the series' melee and fisticuff-focused combat sequel after sequel. It never quite achieves the classification as a 3D successor to classic beat-em-ups like Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. At its worst moments, combat has been clunky, repetitive, and shallow. Minor improvements to fighting would come with each subsequent release, accompanied by violent and often amusing finishing blows, like the memorable tiger punch in Yakuza 2.
In 2008, an Asia-only spin-off followed. Set during the dawn of Japan's Edo period, Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan followed a reimagined Kiryu as Kazumanosuke Kiryu, whose real identity is the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Once again tied by fate to Haruka, Kiryu reluctantly agrees to help this Edo period version of the young woman by assassinating an imposter posing as Musashi.
Sega would eventually explore the twilight of the Edo period 200 years later in the Japan-only Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin! in 2014 for the PS4. It takes creative liberties with two real historical figures of the time. Sega reimagined two samurai, Ryoma Sakamoto and Hajima Saito as the same person with Kiryu's personality, taking on a dual identity as they survive this era of unrest as the reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate ended.
Lost In Translation
With Yakuza 3 in 2010, Sega was still trying to find the series' footing in the West, the least of its problems being its poorly conceived box art. Citing time constraints and the presumption that some sections wouldn't resonate with audiences outside of Japan, Sega of America released an incomplete version of Yakuza 3 in the West. The most notable omissions were the hostess clubs and historical trivia quizzes.
But this was 2010. You could argue that a fascination with the peculiarities of Japanese culture had long since permeated through many areas of gaming fandom in the West. The backlash on forums and in social media sent the message to Sega of America that fans want to be immersed in this culture. Sega have since learned their lesson, if every English release since are anything to go by.
You could argue that a fascination with the peculiarities of Japanese culture had long since permeated through many areas of gaming fandom in the West.
Despite the omissions, Yakuza 3 was still a fine first entry for the series on the PlayStation 3 in the West. Kiryu's orphanage is under threat of demolishment by the government and his efforts to save it gets him embroiled in the arms smuggling underworld, attracting even the attention of the CIA.
Even beyond the main story, Yakuza 3 shows tremendous heart, with Haruka's Trust being the most memorable optional mission. Imagine the first moments of bonding with Hakura in the first Yakuza and stretching that out to an entire game. Impressing her and building trust takes more than just buying her stuff and taking her to restaurants. She has very specific scoring expectations when you're doing even the most mundane of activities like baseball. Miss the mark and that's time and money wasted.
More Gangsters, The Merrier
Sega's plan to regain the consumers' trust began with Yakuza 4. Received well by both fans and critics, this sequel gave an idea of what a post-Kiryu Yakuza series would be like in a big way. In fact, the Dragon of Dojima doesn't appear in the game's first 10 hours. The series mainstay would share the stage with three other playable characters: Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima. Their sections collectively did more than just help double the playtime over Yakuza 3. How their diverse backgrounds and predicaments intertwined with Kiryu's offered the same compelling kind of suspense and intrigue found in the previous games while adding a great deal of lore to the series overall.
Equally significant are the various game modes exclusive to each character. Akiyama manages a hostess club not unlike the version cut from Yakuza 3's English version. The player is tasked with winning fighting tournaments in Saejima's section. And Tanimura keeps the peace in Kamurocho by listening in on police radio reports and catching crime perpetrators. This expanded cast doesn't equate to a four-Yakuza-games-in-one playthrough, but it still was the biggest Yakuza game yet.
Back in Japan, fans were treated to another spin-off, Kurohyo: Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinsho, curiously released on the then six year-old PlayStation Portable handheld. While not as feature-rich as any of the console games, this adventure, starring an aimless youth named Tatsuya, was recognized for its customizable fighting system. It also offered its share of minigames including the batting center and hostess clubs.
A sequel would follow two years later, once again on the PSP. Kurohyo 2: Ryu Ga Gotoku Ashura Hen preserved the previous game's memorable fighting gameplay and was notable for having an involving mahjong minigame.
The series never made an appearance on the PlayStation Vita.
What came next to the West capitalized on the rising popularity of zombie games. Yakuza Dead Souls marked the first and only time to date a Yakuza spin-off has been translated to English. As a zombie game, the emphasis on gunplay proved to be its weakest feature, not too surprising for a franchise more known for its melee combat and brawling. Still, it proved to be more than a novel, non-canonical break from the series' hard boiled storylines. Just seeing these tough Japanese gangsters deal with the undead made for great comedy.
Sony Comes To The Rescue
Dead Souls came out at a time when Sega's American presence was once again struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing and competitive market, so much so that they had to secure support from Sony to bring Yakuza 5 to the West, three years after its release in Japan. One of the caveats to bringing the game overseas involved foregoing a physical disc version and making it a PlayStation Store exclusive. It's a fiscally prudent approach that publishers like Bandai Namco and Koei Tecmo have practiced for many of their games in recent years.
Not to mess with a good thing, Yakuza 5 continued with the multi-character design of 4. Along with the return Kiryu, Akiyama, and Saejima, there's newcomer Tatsuo Shinada, a former baseball pro whose career was cut short by a gambling scandal. Yet the fifth and most notable playable character is Haruka, whose idol singing career resulted in many first-time gameplay modes for Yakuza. In a series that has featured karaoke minigames, Haruka's idol rhythm action sections were a natural fit.
Her idol aspirations came with a price, though. Given his known crime history, Kiryu had to disassociate himself with Haruka and the Sunshine Orphanage as part of her signing agreement. That's why we meet Kiryu as Suzuki Taichi, a taxi driver living in Fukuoka at the start of the game. Like Yakuza 4, all the playable characters' storylines are connected by fate. Making progress in the game to discover how their respective quandaries are woven together is part of the draw.
While Kamurocho as a setting has always been one of the series' constants, every mainline sequel has expanded the window into modern Japanese urbanity as well as the occasional glimpse into more rural settings. Whereas Yakuza 4 slightly expanded Kamurocho, Yakuza 5 had a different city for each of the five characters. It's no surprise that Yakuza 5 has been described by its developers as the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas of the series.
Going To The Beginning, Twice
Sega would take the series to the PlayStation 4 in a big way with both Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami in the West in 2017. It made for a fitting pair; Yakuza 0 being a prequel to the original Yakuza, and Kiwami being the remake of that very same first game. As the first installment to capitalize on the console's video sharing feature, Yakuza 0 served as the series' long overdue coming out party. Bolstered by a new, yet experienced localization team, Yakuza 0--in some ways--felt like a reboot in regards to how the series would be treated in the West from this point on. This new group even convinced Sega Japan to lift the game's video sharing restriction, which is common with many Japanese-developed games. Much of its more absurd optional content lent well to video-friendly social media platforms like Twitter. Pulling in intrigued gamers is easy when you can show Kiryu defending a Michael Jackson doppelganger in an escort mission. Yet the clip that won over even more newcomers on social media was the now infamous Nugget scene. If you were skilled enough at the bowling minigame, you had the chance to recruit a chicken named Nugget to help manage your real estate portfolio. Yes, there is a commercial property minigame, a perfect fit for a game set in 1988.
Bolstered by a new, yet experienced localization team, Yakuza 0--in some ways--felt like a reboot in regards to how the series would be treated in the West from this point on.
This nostalgic representation of Tokyo and Osaka in the 1980s--right down to the romantic yellow hue emanating from nighttime street lights--is one of the many reasons why Yakuza 0 is considered a series high point. While the presence of contemporary bikini models and arcade games show that this isn't a wholly authentic depiction, the surroundings and the story nonetheless offer a glimpse of Japan's last halcyonic period before its economic bubble burst. Moreover, the recurring appearances of the Club Sega arcades is both a celebration of the company's coin-op heritage and recognition of a bygone era.
Yakuza 0 gives equal screen time to Kiryu and the game's other playable character, Goro Majima. A prequel focusing on the birth of the Dragon of Dojima within the Tojo Clan is eye-opening enough; witnessing Goro's origin tale unfold is an entertaining look at his charming lunacy. Sega would double down on his twisted attachment to Kiryu with some substantial retconning in the remake of the original game, Yakuza Kiwami.
Mainline Yakuza games have progressively improved its side missions, but Yakuza 0 took these diversions to another absurdist level. These often comedic substories underscore the duality of the series. Its fans can get engrossed in its melodramatic and serious story events while also relishing in the games' countless lighthearted moments. The Yakuza faithful know that there's nothing wrong spending an hour fishing as they ignore the sense of urgency of the next story objective. Rescuing a damsel or an informant will have to wait; Kiryu needs his shark fix!
These often comedic substories underscore the duality of the series. Its fans can get engrossed in its melodramatic and serious story events while also relishing in the games' countless lighthearted moments.
Before jumping from Yakuza 0 to witness the end of Kiryu's arc in Yakuza 6, Sega took us back to the start. Yakuza Kiwami wasn't your typical fresh-coat-of-paint remaster. This was a full on remake that struck a fine balance between expanding the original game's comparatively sparse side content with a strict faithfulness to the narrative. Yakuza fans with videographic memories will recognize practically all the cinematics, shot for shot, right down to the camera angles, all with new visuals.
That attention to detail is just one of the many layers of fan service Kiwami delivers. Keen eyes will notice subtle story callbacks to Yakuza 0 and appreciate the repurposing of the three fighting styles from that prequel, on top of a modified version of Kiryu's original moveset. And for better or worse, Kiwami alters Goro's role by accentuating the more endearing and psychotic aspects of his personality from Yakuza 0.
Happy Endings And New Beginnings
As the conclusion to Kiryu's story arc, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a more focused and intimate story compared to the last few games. As a throwback to the Playstation 2 games, the Dragon of Dojima--now 48 years old in 2016--is the only playable character, a marked contrast over the robust fivesome of Yakuza 5. In addition, his move set does away with the previous games' multiple fighting styles in favor of a single refined but comprehensive set of skills. While the optional missions and minigames aren't as plentiful as prior Yakuzas, what it does have are exceedingly involved. That includes underwater fishing with a speargun, running your own gang, and even learning the fine art of conversing in a bar. And this swansong is peppered with notable quality of life improvements, like the ability to pin waypoints on the map, auto-saving, limited loading times, and full voice acting in every conversation. The game also introduces you to Onomichi, a port town Hiroshima.
While the optional missions and minigames aren't as plentiful as prior Yakuzas, what it does have are exceedingly involved.
Yakuza 6's story sends Kiryu back and forth between Kamurocho and Onomichi as he deals with events that were set in motion at the end of Yakuza 5, particularly related to Haruka's idol career. And just as Yakuza 0 offered a view of urban Japan in the late 1980s, Yakuza 6 portrays yakuza as a dying breed, affected by the foreign influence of crime organizations from both Korea and China.
Kiryu's dealings with the yakuza of Onomichi provide yet another glimpse of organized crime in another region of Japan. With this new batch of colorful characters--from the high strung Nagumo Tsuyoshi to the intimidating Toru Hirose, the latter played by Beat Takeshi--, it's easy to fantasize a Yakuza spin-off based primarily in this charming Japanese port town. One of the strengths of this franchise is that you can name a dozen existing characters who can potentially be the main protagonist in their own game.
One of the strengths of this franchise is that you can name a dozen existing characters who can potentially be the main protagonist in their own game.
Seven mainline games is a lot for even someone as beloved as Kazuma Kiryu and Sega chose "The Song of Life" subtitle to convey both symmetry and the circular beauty of life. As much as this series is about the Japanese crime underworld, it is also the story of a man's journey. In an entertainment medium where character driven franchises can go on too long or lay dormant indefinitely, it's an immensely rare gift to witness the conclusive end to a multi-game story arc of a protagonist as loved and admired as Kazuma Kiryu, told over three consoles generations and two decades. You can't name more than a dozen other game heroes who are fortunate enough to have this kind of send off. Solid Snake, Big Boss, Ezio Auditore, Commander Shepard, and Nathan Drake, but who else? Yakuza fans are incredibly lucky to get this sense of closure.
Enter The New Dragon
Yakuza 6 marks an end but it is also a new beginning for the franchise. For as visually impressive as Yakuza 0 and Kiwami were, these games were built for both the PlayStation 3 and 4, and like all the games before it, reiterated on design foundations that go all the way back to the very first game in the series. Yakuza 6 is the first game to run on the new Dragon Engine with the Kiwami remake of Yakuza 2 being the second. We hold out hope that the positive reception of the recent games in the West will encourage Sega to make an English translation of Yakuza 2 Kiwami a reality.
At least in Japan, 2018 is primed to be a busy year for Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku. Ryu Ga Gotoku Online is a microtransaction-driven free-to-play Windows and mobile game designed to tee up the next console game, aptly titled Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku (in this context, 'Shin' means 'New'). Powered by the Yakuza 6 engine, Shin Ryu Ga Gotoku's playable protagonist is newcomer Ichiban Kasuga, a 40 year-old ex-con trying to make sense of Kamurocho in 2018 and the surprising state of the Tojo clan.
This story arc isn't the only new territory Ryu Ga Gotoku is exploring. In a move reminiscent of Koei Tecmo's Musou spin-offs, the team behind Yakuza is developing Hokuto Ga Gotoku, an adventure brawler based on Hokuto No Ken, or Fist of the North Star as it's known in English markets. There's no word yet on whether any of these games will make their journey to the West, but it's clear that gaming's biggest niche franchise is ready to enter its next era.
As with most any narrative-driven adventure game series, Yakuza is best appreciated when playing through all the releases in story order. Between the collective play time of over 200 hours, experiencing the complete Kiryu saga can be a daunting task. To all ambitious newcomers, getting Yakuzas 0 to 6 isn't anything the PlayStation Store and Ebay can't take care of. Yet, the beauty these games is that they can each be appreciated on their own, much thanks to their mostly self-contained plots, the wealth of optional missions and minigames, and succinct summaries of the other games' stories.
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