The recent release of the Yakuza series on GOG has been tempered by the notable removal of several developers and even entire studios from the games’ credits.
]]>Our list of the best open world games on PC is for those who look at a forest and think about seeing what's in the middle. For the players who really do want to climb that mountain. Sure, the size of games these days means in some sense they all have an open world, but here we're leaning in to those games that want you to adventure, where the onus is on exploring and seeing what you find. These are the games where part of the destination really is the journey, and you can tell the devs wanted you to stop and look around every so often to see what you could find. They might not be for everyone, but if you're the sort of person who likes getting lost in a game for a long time, then these open world games will help you do that.
]]>With Yakuza games (or Like A Dragon, as it's now known) on the rise here in the West, I see more and more people ask the question:"What order should I play the Yakuza games in?". Not only does it warm my heart, it also gets to me. To experience the series in the richest way possible, there's an obvious answer. But if you're someone who hasn't got all the time in the world, or you're a bit unsure whether Yakuza is the right fit for you, then there's another way in. Now pick up that bike and walk with me.
]]>In the dead of night I've been hearing things. At first, I thought it was the neighbours next door enjoying a bit of karaoke. Maybe some twigs banging off a discarded Tesco trolley, creating a beautiful tune. No, I'm convinced it was the dulcet tones of Kiryu singing "Dame da ne dame yo dame na no yo!", as a signal from the nether that Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 would be back on Game Pass having been removed last year. And by God, they're there! They're live! That's rad!
]]>Today I made a life-changing discovery. Takaya Kuroda, the man who voices Yakuza's beloved protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, is also the lead singer of a band. They're named Takaya Kuroda & Goodfellas and they have a Christmas song out. Not only is this excellent news, I can't get over the fact it straight up sounds like Kiryu delivering some festive cheer. So get comfy, bang this on, and let Kiryu's warm tones wash over you like mulled wine.
]]>Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are leaving Xbox Game Pass on 31st December. If you need time to absorb this news, please, take it. Back? Okay, so actually we don’t have much time left now. You must play these beat 'em ups before they disappear into the realms of non-free (sort of; you know what I mean). Here’s why.
]]>The hot meme in Los Santos right now is replacing character models with folks from other games and across pop culture, giving Grand Theft Auto V cutscenes a very weird energy. Folks are focused on the scene where Lamar roasts Franklin, swapping in all sorts of characters and voices for silly effect. But in a video game full of dickheads, the one that most warms the cockles of my heart is Yakuza's Kiryu popping up to serenade Franklin with a song. Even in sweary memes, Kiryu is the goodest boy.
]]>Many of you are by now bathing in twinkling neon ravelights and swooning into the metal arms of Cyberpunk 2077's humourless unhunks, who stalk the streets of Night City like animatronic pizza restaurant mascots gone feral. That is fine. There are worse places to find oneself in the labyrinthine hell of video games. Places such as these. Here are 9 neighbourhoods you wouldn't want to bring up your children in.
]]>Now that Cyberpunk 2077 is delayed again until December 10th, what are you to do? You've grown a lurid blue mohawk, your leather jacket is almost worn in, and your prescription mirrorshades are ready for collection at Specsavers - but for what? You might as well use this time to explore all games cyberpunky, from edgy and nihilistic griping about how the future sucks to wacky cyberjapes that make you wanna jump up and shout HACK THE PLANET. I have some recommendations.
]]>Ultrawide gaming monitors can seem excessive compared to regular 16:9 gaming screens, especially when their demanding resolutions often require powerful and expensive graphics cards to make the most of them. Once you try one, though, there's no going back. I've been a big fan of ultrawide gaming monitors for years now, as their extra screen space not only makes them great for juggling multiple desktop windows, but supported PC games also look uttery fantastic on them - and to prove it, I've put together this list of the best ultrawide games on PC.
]]>As part of the celebration for Sega's 60th anniversary, they've sat down with long-time Yakuza series producer and director Daisuke Sato to talk about his history with the company. Although he's got years of Yakuza games to his name, including Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the series he's never gotten involved with but would like to is Sonic. Heck, maybe that's a Sonic game even I would play.
]]>Hype can often be a deterrent if you’re late to the party. If you have someone screaming at you to watch The Wire for months on end, then chances are you’ll either bounce straight off it or come out the other end thinking it was lesser than it actually was. During Yakuza’s second go around of capturing the imagination of those in the West, I had plenty of pals bigging up Yakuza 0 and its mix of melodrama and silliness. “You have to play it,” “you’d love this game,” “you can bring a chicken in to manage your property business”; stupidly, I let all this praise turn me off. Sometimes, it turns out, people are right.
]]>Following a little leak this week, Yakuza: Like A Dragon is now officially announced for PC, coming later this year. This opens a new chapter in Sega's RPG series about mobsters with hearts of gold, starring a different wrestledad in another city. Like A Dragon also shakes up the action, going from a beat 'em up to a turn-based RPG action. Huh! Come watch.
]]>Going by a little Steam database leak, it seems that Yakuza: Like A Dragon is coming to PC - and presumably soon-ish. Sega's wonderful beefy-dads-with-hearts-of-gold RPG series only started coming to PC in 2018, 13 years after it started on PlayStations, and now it looks like we're skipping a few games ahead. Set after Yakuza 6, Like A Dragon introduces a whole new star, turning away from best dad Kazuma Kiryu. In another break from tradition, it also turns the beat 'em up combat into a turn-based RPG. Curious!
]]>Everyone’s a cook now, is that it? A few weeks in lockdown and you’re all suddenly artisan bakers and Bon Appétit Kitchen presenters? Sorry, I don’t buy it. Put the chickpeas down, Jeff. We all know what happens when you let things “simmer”. However, there is a world in which your cooking really does impress. Where it comes out of the pot scrumptious and hot and more flavourful than a generous bite from a big round onion. That world is videogames. Did you think I was going to say something else? I never say anything else. It’s videogames. Here are the 9 most delicious dinners in videogames.
]]>Microsoft's subscription-based stable of games just keeps growing like some cursed alien creature in a sci-fi show. It won't stop till its giant, gelatinous self fills every corner of the ship, captain! Microsoft are adding five more games to the Xbox Game Pass on PC in the near future. Yakuza 0 and Two Point Hospital are on deck along with Wasteland Remastered, Reigns: Game Of Thrones, and Indivisible.
]]>Everyone loves a good action game. It's the driving force behind so many of our favourite PC games, but only a few can lay claim to being the best action games of all time. That's why we've compiled this list - to sort the pulled punches from the bestest biffs that PC has to offer. Whether it's the joy of pulling off a perfect combo, riding the wave of an explosive set-piece or the hair-raising thrill of dodging enemy attacks in slow-motion that gets you going, there's an action game here for you.
]]>Imagine a world without electricity. Horrible. What would we use to blend our smoothies? How would we know when uncle Derek hits the metal bit again in the Sunday game of Operation? Electricity has roughly one dozen uses, and yet it is in the realm of videogames when we see its most fantastical and offensive capabilities brought screaming to life. To celebrate the important role of sassy electrons in your otherwise mundane life of neutrons and - ugh - protons, here are the 8 most shocking uses of electricity in games.
]]>It's been an eventful decade for PC games, and it would be hard for you to summarise everything that's happened in the medium across the past ten years. Hard for you, but a day's work for us. Below you'll find our picks for the 50 greatest games released on PC across the past decade.
]]>Gather round, descendants of unwelcome occupiers. It is time to celebrate turkeys again. Now, I don’t have any comically large birds to slaughter, but I do recognise the emotional benefit of reflection, which is what this questionable holiday is all about. Being thankful. There are many small things we videosgamers take for granted, the stuff you don’t even think about. But tiny “quality of life” things still deserve a grateful thumbs-up. Here are 17 things to be thankful for in games.
]]>Minigames are the coffee Revel of videogames. They are harmless, infrequent and unpleasant to think about. We accept their presence, yet no one has ever eaten a pack of Revels and wished for more coffee nuggets. Nobody completed Final Fantasy X and thought: “Needs more Blitzball”. That minigames exist as a mild distraction inside the glowing guts of other games is itself ridiculous. Imagine you were on a golf course, and hole 12 turned out to be its own 8-hole pitch ‘n’ putt. “This is stupid,” you’d think, and then you would play pitch ‘n’ putt for the rest of the day in a mindless stupor.
Here are the 7 most gratuitous minigames - but do they all deserve to be here?
]]>Those of you chained to the churning wheel of the internet might have seen this facial recognition algorithm thingo doing the rounds. It's called ImageNet Roulette, and it's basically a website where you feed in a photo of your human face and see what the cybergods of our terrible future make of you. But it's probably not safe to show the neurohive your real face. So we showed it 13 pictures of videogame characters instead, to see if the machine lords of the net realm can tell who they are and what they are all about. The short answer: not really, but sometimes. The neural net, it turns out, is a dangerous idiot.
]]>Sega this week announced western releases for another three Yakuza games, another three stories of kind-hearted mobsters helping everyone offering fatherly advice to children and adults alike and smashing thugs with bicycles. Yakuza 3, 4, 5 are the latest coming our way and... well, Sega haven't actually confirmed PC releases yet. Seeing as the series grew on PlayStation, it's starting there. But asked this week whether the rest of the series is coming to PC too, Sega's Yakuzoids avoided giving a straight answer and I'm totally reading that as "Shhh! The PR people won't let us talk about it yet." Please, Ian Sega, hop to.
]]>Rural life is disgusting. All those shrubs and trees, how awful. You should pack your checkered pouch and head into the big smoke. The shining cities of videogameland are calling to you, and the team of the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, will be there to help you get settled in to your disgusting, overpriced flat no matter which giant urban maze you choose. Trust us, life is so much better in the city.
Ignore the rats. You'll get used to them.
]]>Gaming's best dads will return to dispense fatherly advice and bodyslam baddies in Yakuza Kiwami 2 this May, Sega confirmed today. Kiryu and Majima will bring more crime melodrama, more minigames, more daft quests, more japes, and more mobsters whipping their jackets and shirts off in one single dramatic movement to reveal their tattoos when it's go time. This remake of 2006's Yakuza 2 is the latest in Sega's mobster/father brawler-RPG series, though we've still not seen Yakuza 6 on PC - or any of the other games from previous console generations. The point is, we'll hear more men shout "KIRYYYYUUUUU!"
]]>Lovers of violent neon soap operas, rejoice. Yakuza Kiwami 2, the open world crime caper about a good dad who punches bad, is coming to PC. At least, that's if the folks who stamp warnings on game boxes are to be believed. The ERSB posted that a PC version of the game has been given a rating of M for Mature, as spotted by a Reddit user yesterday. The ERSB is the US-based ratings organisation who tell you how many bad drugs there are in your shooty-bang. We are comforted by their summary of the game, which confirms that “The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole” appear in the dialogue.”
]]>The world's greatest wrestledad and his lovable best frenemy are back in Kamurocho town, as Yakuza Kiwami is out now on PC. It is: a remake of the first game in Sega's Yakuza series of open-world brawler RPGs. Which was: exclusive to PlayStations for 13 years, only taking its first steps onto PC in 2018 with the prequel Yakuza 0. It also is: very good. Spread the word around.
]]>The adventures of the nicest gangster that ever lived and his eyepatched life partner continue soon, if Sega's teasing on the Yakuza Kiwami page on Steam is any indication. Continuing Sega's habit of teasing things in weird, creative ways, the Kiwami store page now contains an animated GIF of Goro Majima emerging from his well to shame (shank?) mankind - for a single frame, the date "February 19th" appears above his head. Scribble it down in your calendars, and finish up Yakuza 0 if you haven't- we're skipping past the 90s and diving into near-modern Kamurocho soon.
]]>Yakuza 0 and Tom Clancy's The Division (which is rather good too) are the headlining games in the latest Humble Monthly. That makes it a very cheap way to get to know Yakuza hero Kazuma Kiryu - everyone should, unless you're some kind of jerk in which case run. Despite his occupation as a Professional Crimesman, he's the nicest man alive, and will help you with all your problems, especially if those problems can be punched. Get those two now for $12 (around £9.40), and after a month you'll get a bundle of mystery games too. Trailers and some thoughts below.
]]>The doors have been opened, the games inside have been devoured, and now it's time to recycle the cardboard. Below you'll find all of our favourite games from 2018, gathered together in a single post for easy reading.
]]>I’ve spent 2018 particularly distracted, flitting between games and feeling guilty that I haven’t quite finished them or spent the time they deserved. Maybe it’s because there have been so many good games? Or maybe I’m just awful. Either way, I resolve to take better care next year.
Now I look back, I realise that I’ve particularly enjoyed a series of games which gave me space to explore them on my own terms. Whether on the scale of giant monsters or the confined scale of the decks of a ship, they’ve all felt expansive and generous, and respectful of me as a player.
Also, it’s always hard to figure out a five, so shoutouts to Forza Horizon 4, Donut County, Far: Lone Sails and Total War: Warhammer 2’s pirate vampires.
]]>It is terrifying to be an independent developer right now. Before, small teams might compare themselves to a ‘soulless’ billion dollar industry built on games where Very Large Men shoot other Very Large Men (regardless of the merit of that claim). Now, those same big studios are bringing their absurd levels of manpower and polish to titles that are more empathetic and experimental than ever -- often hiring the very indies that used to compete with them. As remasters, re-releases, and long-awaited ports hit every platform imaginable, the time of a game’s release has lost all meaning. Katamari Damacy, a title originally released in 2004, can finally be played as God intended -- with the power of a NVIDIA Titan RTX. We are lost in a sea of games, and Epic aims to be our new Poseidon.
...I’m supposed to say my five favourite games of the year at some point, right?
]]>Best worst crime-dad Kazuma Kiryu might be making a return to PC sooner than expected, if the whirring coming from Steam's database is any indication. We've known for a while that Yakuza Kiwami (a remake of the first in Sega's brawl-o-RPG series) was headed to PC, following up on the successful launch of 80s-set prequel Yakuza Zero - we just didn't know when. As reported by VG247, folk on Twitter have spotted them loading launch tubes via SteamDB. Achievement lists are going up, keys are being prepped - here's hoping for a launch this side of chrimbo.
]]>Within the first hour of Yakuza 0, Kazuma Kiryu has to re-evaluate most of what he’s come to believe in. The crime family he’s been loyal to actually has no problem with selling him out, and Kiryu has to somehow prove his innocence in a murder plot, as well as stop a large-scale turf war.
Over the course of many conversations, Kiryu is quickly established as a man you don’t want to cross – he’s principled, highly idealistic and built like a tree. Unlike his friend Nishikiyama, he didn’t join the yakuza for the money, he just does as he’s told in order to repay what he sees as a debt to the people who took him in and gave him a home. Kiryu could well have been the stoic, hyper-masculine protagonist of so many games, but then comes the moment that shatters it all.
]]>Can you kick it? Yes, you can. Can you punt a ram? Yes, you can. Can you listen to the RPS podcast, aka the Electronic Wireless Show, as they talk about the best kicks in videogames? Yes, I already told you, of course you can. From the powerful hoof of Kassandra in the new Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to the zombie-launching boot of Dying Light, we are chatting about some of the most forceful feet in recent history. Come listen, and kick up the volume.
]]>The Japanese games industry is truly huge, and boasts some of the biggest and best titles under its' belt. PC gamers have been reaping the rewards of its renaissance. It took some time for Japanese developers and publishers to get on board, especially with consoles and smartphones remaining the dominant gaming platforms in their native country. Classic console franchises finally made their Steam debuts, with better-late-than-never ports coming with full-fat optimisation options to give you the definitive experience, there really has been never a pbetter time to be a Japanese-loving PC player.
]]>I’ve never been myself, but if games have taught me anything about the 80s, it’s that they were wild. Big hair, big clothes, big music – it was all there. If you were to use Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as a sole reference for the period, you’d assume that everyone was constantly walking around to the beat of their own pulsing, synth-infused soundtrack. When 80s-inspired games come to mind, you’re probably reminded of excessive action, neon-laced landscapes, and other stylised sensibilities. The games industry seems to be obsessed with this flashy, bitchin’ decade – or, at least, a version of it. Point being: it doesn’t have to be like this.
]]>The Yakuza series is known for all things bizarre and unapologetically weird. Quests in Yakuza 0 range from training a timid dominatrix to let out her inner S&M Queen in front of a group of children, to helping a woman solve a crossword puzzle so she can find a proposal hidden inside by her boyfriend. However, alongside a sense of the strange and unexpected, there are also sincere, characterful, and dramatic stories about crime and integrity. This is thanks to the radically grounded environment its stories play across. The streets of Kamuchuro are a red-light district of Tokyo so finely detailed that players have gone on pilgrimages to Kabukicho, its real world inspiration, and navigated the streets like a second home.
But some of the finest details come from its people and their incidental animations. The dozens of small NPC actions that make the city tangible, even if you never notice them. Let's take a minute to appreciate these smokers, lovers and workers as they go through their everyday lives.
]]>Sega have relaunched the first patch for Yakuza 0, aiming to fix several crashes in their delightful dad simulator, after its initial launch last week went a bit wonky. 'Patch 1', as it's snappily titled, first hit last Monday but Sega reverted it within hours after discovering it caused several unintended new bugs. After a week of fixing and testing, here it is again, come to spare us all the anxiety of being separated from our two dads.
]]>While I've been lucky enough to have had a problem-free time with Japanese street-crime adventure Yakuza 0 on PC, I admit that I'm not too far into the game. There have been reports of some nasty crash bugs lurking around Kamurocho, and Sega have been trying to figure out how to banish them. Unfortunately the time-tested Yakuza approach of 'punching things until they apologise' doesn't seem to be working, as they've had to roll back their first patch mere hours after it went live, as it apparently introduced more issues than it solved.
]]>Welcome to the Award Winning Steam Charts! Yes, you heard that right! I wrote "Award Winning"! It hasn't technically won any awards, but since everyone can agree it should have, it seems like it would almost be lying not to write it. But enough about how bloody brilliant I am, here are the top grossing games on your Steams this week.
]]>If you've been bashing faces and fathering full-grown men in Yakuza 0 but had the game wonk out at certain points, take solace: it's not just you. While Sega's brawl-o-RPG does seem in sound shape for many after yesterday's launch, a few problems are coming to light. The biggest problem recognised so far is the game outright crashing at launch for some. And I myself experience a crash with a certain (thankfully avoidable) sidequest. Read on for... possible solutions? At the very least, read on to see children mock an adult's sex life.
]]>Sega's fab brawl-o-RPG series Yakuza today finally makes its official debut on PC, after over a decade exclusive to PlayStations, with the launch of Yakuza 0. It's the story of two soon-to-be-legendary gangsters in 1988's Tokyo and Osaka, who talk in serious tones and have mastered the art of whipping off their shirt and jacket in one movement when it's time to rumble. Also they're huge goofballs who sing karaoke, bodyslam bicycles onto punks, have dance-offs, win toys for children, race Scalextric, and get real into telephone dating. Good times. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell give it a big thumbs-up in our Yakuza 0 review last week, and now the game's actually out. Watch the launch trailer below.
]]>Many games are defined by the amassing of wealth but few take such an unseemly, predatory relish in the idea as Yakuza 0. The first of Sega's Japanese crime epics to appear on PC, it's an orgy of late 80s materialism in which you don't merely earn cash by defeating opponents but punch it out of their bodies - banknotes blasting from collars and shirt sleeves with every wallop. Each of the game's 17 chapters ends with an unsavoury record of how much dough you've accumulated through assorted criminal activities, cheekily phrasing it as a multiple of a public sector worker's salary. Money is everything in the universe of Yakuza 0, a gloriously engrossing, well-written RPG-brawler with a certain, calculated hollowness at its core. Here's wot I think.
]]>Has it really been six months? 2018 is passing in a blur of frozen architects, drug-pushing prophets and accordion duets. Hell, six months ago the RPS Video Department was but a glint in Graham’s eye. You may also recall a gathering of the most exciting games of 2018, a rundown of the year as it looked back in January. With E3 done there’s a clearer picture of what the rest of 2018 looks like. Many games have slipped to February 2019 - the stampeding bandits of Red Dead Redemption 2 have them running for the hills - but we’ve rustled up 15 of the remaining games that fellow video person Noa and I are looking forward to.
]]>Alright, pack it up, no need for E3 now, we can all go home as the best news possible has been announced: Sega are bringing their Yakuza games from PlayStation to PC. Prequel Yakuza 0 is coming first, then Yakuza Kiwami. This is the best news. Yakuza is... so it's an open-world action-RPG about mobsters in a Tokyo district (based on Kabukicho), with much crimechat. Also, you play arcade UFO games to win prizes for a child, sing karaoke, dramatically whip your shirt and jacket off in one motion, hit people with bicycles, fight using breakdancing, beat up rich men in gold lamé suits, and eat so many dinners. Yakuza is weird, funny, and deeply charming. Best news.
]]>BAM. A sound captures your headphones and holds you hostage. It's the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. We've been lying in wait for the past three weeks, consolidating our strength and preparing to kidnap you by the ear canals. "Listen up, 2018!" we shout out from atop this metaphor. "We have a list of demands and we're not releasing this poor listener until you've delivered! Or until the one hour playtime is up, whichever comes first!"
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