Hey everyone!
For those who have a JP Account set up, the Yakuza 5 demo came up today. It's a fairly short demo for Yakuza. Really only one sidetrack area to go outside of some side missions. It looks like there's an option for 3D, but I don't know how to set it. I did manage to set the camera angles properly, cuz there in reverse as you play.
The story seems to be two Yakuza wanting Kazuma back in the family business....I think. Also, his adopted daughter is now a pop idol. When you reach the city, you can see a story mission and one question mark. I headed to the question mark area for a story I didn't need translated. A little girl was defending a dog from a gang that was abusing the animal. They start to threaten the girl and Kazuma comes in and kicks some ass. Once you defeat them, you talk to the girl who sends you on a second question mark area where you talk to someone who I think is her dad. He comes back with you down to where the little girl is and there's an even bigger gang waiting. Of course, I kicked all their asses.
The fighting areas are even more brutal this time. Kazuma will grab an enemy and throw him against a poll, then curb stomp him when he's on the ground. The most brutal is when he had one guy lying face down in the street and he proceed to rub his face in the gravel and it was bleeding everywhere. One other cool aspect is that if you don't finish all the street punks in a good amount of time, they'll get on their cell phones and call for backup.
The graphics do look better than 4. Especially with the lighting, but it still doesn't blow me away. I will say it's a big leap from 3 though.
The only other activity outside of story was going to Club Sega. No more Boxelios! This time you get two REAL arcade games. Virtua Fighter 2 and Taiko Drum Master. In the demo, you only get 3 matches in VF2 (but you can select all the fighters) and only one song in Drum Master. I imagine you get full versions of both games in the full game.
The U"FO catcher is all about Sega related prizes. You can nab a box toy with a Panzer Dragoon dragon in it, Bonanza Bros figures, a NiGHTS statue and Opa-Opa toy. By far the toughest to get is a Hatsume Miku statuette in a box. This time, the UFO catcher doesn't use a claw, but a little, round peg that pokes through a tiny hole only about a centimeter bigger than the peg. If successful, it'll push down on a shelf that will drop the box. It's pretty tough though. Took me several tries.
The demo ended when I met up with the two gentleman who were wanting me back in the Yakuza (I think), I refused and they attacked me. I had to use some of my healing items, but I finally beat them both. The game seems to be coming along great, but it really feels like more of the same. Not that that's bad, but it could use some freahness to the formula.
