Season One, Stage Three of DiRT Rally 2.0 brings the Germany Rally to life, alongside several vehicles: SUBARU Impreza and Ford Focus RS Rally 2007. This and so much more await, and is available in the Deluxe Edition, as part of the Season Pass.
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Well, if this is how you guys want to finish your story…
Since I haven’t told you this in a while – play Yakuza. Play. Yakuza. It’s such a phenomenal series, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 may be my favorite of the franchise so far. It would have been Yakuza 6, but that annoying baby crying made me want to scream, and then throw my controller into the ocean (since the bawling came through my PS4 controller and not my headphones). So, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is officially on Steam, and with it comes the East vs. West War, as the Dragon of Kansai, decides there doesn’t need to be more than one Dragon in Japan. One of them has to go, and it’s sure not going to be Kiryu, who admittedly doesn’t really care about the title in the first place. All of the action, the excitement, the gorgeous cinematics, and the fun (but sometimes infuriating) mini-games are ported from the Playstation 4 to the PC as Yakuza 2’s remake hits PC. But how does it all come together?
Wait, this isn’t Kiryu. Who is this jerk?!
Visually the game is perfection. It looks absolutely beautiful on the PC, just like it did on PS4. It might even look better than the Playstation edition, thanks to the power of my PC. However, I am a little disappointed. One of the things I’ve harped about in every single Yakuza release has come back to haunt me yet again here on Steam: It doesn’t save my Display Settings! All I want is for the game to default in Borderless Window because I alt-tab/move to the other monitor a lot for this game. There’s a lot of stuff to know, and to need to search for (especially when running the Cabaret), and having the game pause every single time I even think of looking at the other monitor is really frustrating. Please patch this, SEGA. I implore, plead and beg – this is the worst feature of Yakuza on PC. There aren’t too many things that I have to harp about – but no matter how much I love Yakuza Kiwami 2, I found a few. One minor complaint is that it does not use PS4 control notifications with a PS4 controller. No matter what, I see the Xbox One buttons. It’s not a big deal, but it can be distracting.
Cabaret running is one of my favorite mini-games.
But one of the things that are just wonderful about this game is how it continues to do so much with small areas. You have two towns to visit, Sotenbori and Kamurocho. Both towns feel distinctly different, and both offer so much to do with every square inch of the city. Personally, I like Sotenbori more, because it’s the home of Club Four Shine, the Cabaret that Kiryu inevitably winds up running, much like Goro Majima does in a previous Yakuza title. Speaking of which, Kiwami 2’s exclusive Majima Mode is back! There are some people that don’t think it fits or makes sense, but it’s a beautiful story that gives more depth to the Mad Dog of Shimano, and I’m glad it’s in the game. I do wish it were longer, or that it was tied into the actual game rather than shunted off to the side. Regardless, I enjoyed it, and if you don’t want to play it, you definitely don’t have to.
Fights can happen anywhere – the steps of a club, in a convenience store, you name it.
Another sound point to pick up Yakuza Kiwami 2 is the price. It’s about 20 bucks, and it comes with the DLC for both the Cabaret Club and the Clan Creator, giving new characters to make both of these modes a little easier. Honestly, the two Club Girls don’t make the modes too much easier, just a bit of something extra for Love/Party people in the nightlife. However, the overwhelming amount of characters you gain for the Clan Creator mode practically trivializes it. Though, receiving awesome New Japan Pro Wrestling characters squad was a nice touch. Other than that, the DLC gives a couple of cool weapons for Kiryu, that can help you in a tight spot. I don’t really use weapons often, other than passing Bicycles, Trash Cans, and Baseball bats, but they can’t hurt!
Play. More. Yakuza: 4.5/5:
It’s the little things, like the real-life places. SUSHI. ZANMAI.
This is a brilliant port of Yakuza Kiwami 2. This engine has some minor graphical issues, mostly restricted to clothes being occasionally weird and ragdoll physics, but it’s not something I’ve seen a whole lot of in my personal playthrough. It’s a terrific game with a fun story, though the ending did make me scream in first confusion, then delight. The change of having side-stories found via an unlockable skill instead of an equippable item was a huge change and one that I was overwhelmed by seeing that. In previous games, you had to wait potentially to Chapter 5 or 6 to find the Side-Story Finder, so you wind up having to search for them on the Internet.
Now I can just open my map, run to where the action is, and engage in the silly, occasionally somber side stories that this franchise is famous for. There are thugs to beat up, skills to unlock, a wealth of stories to explore, and delicious foods to eat. If you should want even more knowledge about what Yakuza Kiwami 2 offers, here’s my review of the PC port. Plus, if you missed out on the previous games, but want to know the story, Kiwami 2 offers up some backstory during the tutorial. It only costs around 20-30 bucks (physical release, at least), but it’s worth so much more. There’s so much to love about the Yakuza franchise. From its accurate depictions of the era and places it takes place in, the frenetic, furious combat, and the memorable story/characters, if you’ve been slacking and not playing Yakuza, fix it! It’s not too late!
A code was given for purposes of this review.
We’ve partnered with Closers to celebrate the release of their new character, Bai, with a special giveaway!
In Closers, players become an elite agent of UNION, an organization dedicated to dealing with the threat of interdimensional aliens spilling through a series of mysterious portals that have appeared throughout New Seoul. Each character’s unique personality and combat style allows players to chart their own path through a complex, branching narrative, upgrading their skills and weapons along the way, and unlocking amazing new powers in a quest to vanquish a gargantuan interdimensional threat.
Read our special coverage over Bai here!
The Closers Rogue Agents Celebration Box Contains:
How to Redeem Your Code:
We’ve partnered with Webzen to celebrate the launch of Mu Legend‘s latest expansion, Gates of Glory, with a special giveaway!
MU Legend is the highly popular action MMO and follow-up to MU Online. It features fluid and stunning hack ‘n’ slash combat, content that caters to both solo and party play, and a deep and intriguing world that will satisfy new players and fans alike. Players can choose from 6 distinct classes – Dark Lord, Whisperer, Blader, War Mage, Spellbinder and Black Phantom – and engage in the endless battle between the world of MU and Pandemonium. MU Legend offers spectacular visuals that can run on lower-end systems and boasts detailed art design with stunning effects.
Your Code includes:
How to redeem your code:
If you are new to WEBZEN, please see the following:
Note:
Kasedo Games revealed today that their latest tycoon title, Rise of Industry has now launched. Taking place in the early 20th century, players control an industrialist, growing and building an empire in a living, breathing procedurally generated world.
Tannenberg’s team confirmed today that their WW1 FPS title is on the way both Xbox One and Playstation 4 this winter. Tannenberg is the second entry in their WW1 Game Series, following their Western Front shooter, Verdun. They strive to keep the accuracy of weapons, uniforms in environments in this, as they did with Verdun. The gameplay in Tannenberg is different to Verdun to reflect the different nature of warfare in the East. Instead of attacking and defending trench lines, you will face more open maps with a choice of sectors to attack, each offering a strategic benefit.
Before Tannenberg arrives on consoles, there will be a huge update to Verdun on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, bringing all the new squads, maps, bots and other improvements from the PC version of the game to console players.
Pandemic Express has been in development for two years, and now tinyBuild is proud to bring it to life. The premise is simple enough: 30 survivors spawn in a closed train station. One turns into a zombie at random, and the gates open wide. The survivors need to get to the train, looting along the way. Zombies can stop the train by keeping the survivors away from it, killing and infecting anyone they get their hands on.
It was inspired by “Zombie Escape” mods found in Counter-Strike, Halo, and others. It’s if Left 4 Dead’s swarms were actual human players who were initially on the survivors team. There’s also a launch promo going on for the game. It’s 14.99 with a 34% launch discount, and if you own a previous tinyBuild game, you receive an additional 10% off. If that weren’t enough, everyone who buys it in the first three days gets an extra copy for a friend.
Sean and Daniel’s tale continues on May 9th, 2019, as Life is Strange 2: Episode 3 goes live! Now that they’ve escaped Beaver Creek, the journey to Mexico rolls on.
Get ready to rock! Or be rocked – Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder is coming to the Nintendo Switch on May 14th, for 14.99. In Bigger & Boulder, the Greek Titan known as Atlas is tasked with the tedious job of holding up the sky. Sadly, he’s dropped the ball and must travel through different periods of Art History to escape the consequences of his actions. It’s part tower defense, part racing game, and players can team up with three friends online, either for co-operative play. They can destroy each other with the goal of seeing who is truly the ultimate rock god in PVP.
Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder Features:
Cultist Simulator, the double-BAFTA-nominated game is nearly one year old, and they’re celebrating with a sweet collector’s edition. This new edition will release on May 30th, 2019, and all of the updates, changes, UX/UI updates, New Game+ and more come with the Anthology Edition of Cultist Simulator. It also features all of the DLC that has been released for the game, and that includes the upcoming Priest and Ghoul DLC (which current owners can purchase separately). This new DLC is a story-centric pair of packs.
One introduces an obscure religion whose followers are gruesome and zealous. The other brings to light a nocturnal bodysnatcher who needs corpses, for reasons that are definitely not going to make your skin crawl or unsettle you in any way. It’s all very above board and legit. This edition also comes with all 15 tracks of the Cultist Simulator OST. This edition releases on Steam, Humble, and GOG at 10 am PDT, May 30th. This will also release for 15% (33.11). If that weren’t enough, Weather Factory revealed that they have begun work on their next game, and news will come between now and May 30th, 2019.