RedShell

But normal and custom stages each have their own completely separate random choice setting, so surely a custom stage wouldn't be selected unless someone in the lobby were to specifically choose one or the random custom stage button? You always have the option to choose either normal random or custom random when both types are enabled.

I love how both of us just mess around when Exeggutor appears, knowing full well about the underground route on that stage.

No worries. You didn't actually need to turn them off though, I always switch to selecting standard stages from 8pm so it doesn't matter if custom is still enabled or not. Anyway, great games as usual. Enjoyed those 1v1 battles too. I thought I did something really cool here and scored a triple KO! But in watching it back, it turns out I was also one of the KOs: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1999838770?t=0h59m22s Also, fun with the Home-Run Bat: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1999838770?t=0h50m16s That's the first time missing a Final Smash has been worthwhile. OK, see you all next week. Hopefully @Glen-i will be back too.

Cheers for the games! And for not stitching me up with characters that I can't use... for the most part. Seriously, I tip my hat to anyone who can use Rosalina & Luma proficiently, I simply cannot get my head around how they control. @Glen-i & @BowserBasher, hope you guys enjoyed the festive custom stage. I just threw that together in about 30 minutes earlier on today, but it turned out pretty well I reckon.

Had a go at a few classic races. It's a nice addition, I like how the game reverts to a 4:3 aspect ratio for it too. Just a shame that it's single races and not GP format, although you can just keep jumping back into it for the duration of the event anyway so it's not that bad. It does seem like the amount of active players in this has already taken quite a hit though. Here's hoping Nintendo has even more updates planned for the future to try and keep it going. I reckon if they added content from BS F-Zero Grand Prix/2 or even the GBA games, that would get player numbers up again.

A few more vids from my time with the game that I finally got around to uploading: Interview with the actress for Akame: I'm glad she ended up in that role rather than just being a hostess, it made Akame a great character.

And all with a development cycle of only six months! Remarkable. I was slightly concerned about the fate of this series following the departure of Toshihiro Nagoshi and several others from RGG Studio, but if Gaiden is any indication, then Yakuza/Like a Dragon is going to continue being great. Anyway, glad to hear you enjoyed it.

The credits have rolled... But yeah, what a game. Bring on Infinite Wealth!

I managed to get myself stuck doing coliseum and substory stuff all over again. But yeah, have completed every battle in the coliseum now, so at least that shouldn't distract me from the main story any more. Well, unless I find myself in need of more cash (it's crazy how much money you can earn there!).

I did indeed love it, game is an absolute no-brainer for anyone that enjoys the Souls formula. BTW, you just reminded me that I need to try and get back to Wo Long at some point! Not played it in a few months, but was pretty far into it I think.

Nice. What was your playthrough time?

Yep, we still don't even have Yakuza 5 over here, and there's no guarantee we'll be getting this one, but here's a thread for it regardless. Will be the first Yakuza game built exclusively for PS4 (which is pretty damn exciting) and will feature the likeness/voice of Takeshi Kitano!: Awesome stuff. So yeah, everyone buy Yakuza 5 when it finally appears, and then pray. Otherwise...

Whoa! Looks like I was actually further through the main story than I thought, as... I'd heard this game's story was shorter than your typical Yakuza game, but that still came as quite a surprise. However, I've done so much side content stuff now that I'm approaching 20 hours of game time anyway, and I still have a few substories left to do, quite a bit of mini-game stuff, plus a big chunk of the coliseum as well. So I reckon 100% completion will probably end up taking around 30 hours. But for anyone that isn't a fan of the extra content in these games, if you were to focus purely on story I get the impression you'd be done with it pretty quickly indeed.

That’s awesome. I love seeing how the Yakuza series has been steadily gaining fans, not just here at N-E but in general. Long may it continue! It’s mad to think that since I first started playing this series back in 2015 (with Yakuza 4 on PS3) I’ve now played through all 8 of the mainline games, 13 games in total if you include the spin-offs, and that’s without even including the two Judgment titles! Still not sure when I’m going to be able to squeeze those in. But yeah, it’s a phenomenal franchise that has produced many games in a relatively short period of time, without dipping in quality. Sure, there is a lot of asset recycling going on between the various titles, but even so, the rate at which RGG Studio has been releasing these, and the ongoing quality and entertainment value of them is simply amazing! And you know what else, it’s just so nice to also have a series that gives zero fucks about political correctness or conforming to certain social ideologies. The devs behind the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise know their target audience (very well indeed ) and are not afraid to cater specifically to them, regardless of what that means for sales or public perception. You’ve gotta love that kind of integrity, and especially at a time where seemingly everything else is primarily concerned with… not being offensive, having enough diversity, virtue signalling etc., often at the expense of entertainment. Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough. Can’t wait to get back to playing Gaiden tonight (I’ve actually started making progress on the main story again! ) and I’m also looking forward to you lot starting that game. You’re gonna love it… trust me.

This looks (and sounds ) absolutely glorious! I really hope they also plan to release it outside of Japan.

OK, I've never been so damn distracted by side content in a Yakuza game as I have with this! Over 12 hours played but I'm still only at the very beginning of chapter 3! Once the game opens up it really opens up, and is packed with so much highly entertaining stuff to do. I love the way substories are handled in this version as well, it's super streamlined compared to previous games. Also, the coliseum mode in this is pure crack, cannot get enough of it. Especially since unlocking... more on that bellow: So yeah, that's where I'm at with the game so far. I should probably get back to focusing on the main story, but they really are making it extra difficult to do so this time around.

Have they changed his English actor since Like a Dragon? That's the only game in the series that I've ever played though with the English dub, but yeah, don't think I ever will again.

It's Pocket Circuit time!:

Those vids I posted before are from the PC version though (managed to refrain from quadruple dipping on the Switch version ) so it’s definitely an across-the-board optimisation, just a pretty rare one probably.

How calm is the geezer that got caught up in the fight with the bicycle? The combat in this feels just like Yakuza 6 but with physics and particle effects dialled up to 11! I bloody love it! They've also made some crazy additions to the gameplay with... While I eventually ended up loving the new turn-based direction with Like a Dragon, playing Ishin recently and now Gaiden has reminded me how much fun the real-time combat is too. Hopefully RGG studio is planning to keep using both gameplay styles going forward, because they're both fantastic.

Shame about that D/C just now, I was about to call it a day anyway so I won't bother to rejoin. Enjoy the rest of the session and thanks for the games!

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I imagine all that video footage for the hostess stuff is a pretty big chunk of it too.

Holy crap, this comes in at almost 90GB on PC! Played through the opening section, loving it already. Man, Kiryu's movement in this is crazy! The way he picks up weapons off the ground is so slick! And what's with this Spider-Man web move!? This is absolutely insane, even by Yakuza standards.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but I'll take it: Suddenly Banana... Suddenly Green Shell?: I literally spent most of those races constantly beeping the horn, especially as Funky Kong... that sound! Cheers for the games.