The Short Answer

Yakuza Kiwami’s Legend Difficulty is not that much more difficult than even the normal difficulty. Enemies are not THAT much harder and you can use consumables to circumvent the downside of no continues. The shootout scene is very frustrating, however, especially since you need to restart the whole chapter if you lose. You may want to bookmark our tips for that part.

The (Slightly) Longer Answer

You unlock Legend Difficulty by completing the game on another difficulty. After this, you’ll have the option to either start from that save or start fresh. Starting fresh means you will lose all money, items and techniques, while continuing from your save well… doesn’t.

Let’s briefly discuss both options.

Continuing on Legend Difficulty From an Existing Save

Since you get to keep all your techniques, passive stats and items, you’ll have a fairly easy time here with some preparation. You can even stock up on some consumables from the casino. Toughness Infinity is overkill, so I would go for the cheaper Staminan Royale. This gives you an “oh shit” button, which is handy since you need to reload if you lose. No continues on Legend Difficulty!

Enemies are roughly 2 chapters ahead of their normal mode counterparts. That means you’ll have a chapter 13 Kiryu taking on chapter 3 enemies near the start. Because of this, you’ll cruise through the early chapters. Enemies start to sting a bit around chapter 6 and start to feel comparable to endgame normal mode around chapter 10. Nothing that is too hard to handle, at least until you get to the shootout (see later).

For an even smoother time, you can take on the Climax Battles before starting Legend Difficulty. This will allow you to pick up the War God Talisman from Bob Utsunomiya (the clown) in your New Game+. Equipping the War God Talisman continuously regenerates your Heat.

Starting Legend Difficulty From a Fresh Save

Similar to starting Legend Difficulty from an existing save, enemies will start with around chapter 3 strength. This time, however, your Kiryu will have chapter 1 stats. To top it off, you have no items and no means to gather them. This ironically makes the earlier chapters of Legend the trickier ones (again, until the shootout).

Still, with your experience from your first playthrough, you should be fine. Just make sure to save regularly, since losing means game over with no option to continue (but reloads are allowed). You’re the type of player who enjoys a challenge or you would not be considering starting Legend from scratch. Players of that caliber can handle enemies of Legend Difficulty without too much trouble.

Why Does the Shootout Cause That Many Issues in Legend Difficulty?

Because both Kiryu and Date’s car are a lot squishier on Legend difficulty. Maxing out Kiryu’s stats does not even help, so there’s not even a difference between starting from scratch and an existing save.

To top it all off, losing it means starting the chapter all over again. Travel cutscenes, scenery cutscenes, restaurant cutscene, storming Lau Ka Long’s base, Lau Ka Long’s cutscene, driving cutscenes and only then the actual shootout. The only small part you can skip by loading the autosave rather than your latest manual save is talking to Date in the park at the very end of the previous chapter.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the shootout scene has halted some players’ progress towards Platinuming Yakuza Kiwami. If you already struggled with this part on Normal, you may want to think twice about starting Legend. If you did okay on Normal mode, then you’ll also be okay on Legend. You’ll need a lot of patience, however, as it’s likely it will take you quite a few tries. This is a good time to remind you once more that we have a tips section for this part.

The post How Difficult Yakuza Kiwami’s Legend Difficulty Is appeared first on Answers for Gamers.

1. Hold Your Horses at the Start of the Shootout

Not the most vital tip in this list, but it will still save you a few bullets. At the start of the shootout you can aim for the first enemy, but don’t shoot yet. Any shots you fire before the controls menu pops up will have no effect.

2. Aim for the Middle of the Circle

You deal significantly more damage by aiming in the middle of the circle. This is especially relevant for the car drivers, for who the middle of the circle and the head don’t quite match up. Taking out drivers quickly will prevent them from ramming Date’s car, saving much-needed health. Quite often it even allows you to ignore the other shooters of the vehicle.

3. Watch the Color of the Circle

The color of the circle of each shooter moves from green to yellow, then orange, then red. A shooter with a red circle will soon be shooting. You can use this information to prioritize targets, which is also the start of the next tip.

4. Prioritize Your Targets During the Shootout

As we mentioned before, you should prioritize targets with a dark (orange or red) circle. But even when there is no one about to shoot, there are still things to consider when deciding who to take out next.

Your highest priority should be motorcycle passengers with a rocket launcher. These enemies are extremely dangerous.

Next are targetable drivers. When you shoot a driver, you will sometimes not even have to bother with the other shooters in the car or on the motorcycle. This tip will not always work, however, as some drivers only become targetable after you take out the other shooters in that car.

5. Save Heat Eye For the Shootout Parts Where You Really Need It

Constantly activating your Heat Eye ability will cause stuttering. For many parts of the shootout, you simply don’t need it. Saving it for when you do need it will allow you to use it longer. I suggest using it to adjust your aim when enemies have an orange or red circle.

6. Reload Before Taking Out A Driver

Once a driver becomes targetable, you only have a limited amount of time before he rams his car into Date’s. Needing to reload at this time would be very detrimental to success in the shootout. There is, however, a little trick you can use for most cars. Often, drivers only become targetable after you take out the other shooters in the car. If their circle is green, you can leave one shooter, reload, take him out and have plenty of ammo remaining for the driver.

7. You Don’t Have to Completely Take Out Enemies To Stop Them From Shooting

Shooting most enemies once or twice (depending on their total HP) resets their attack pattern, even resetting their circle to green. You can use this to your advantage on enemies with higher health, targeting them temporarily and then focusing on lower-health enemies. This is important for the machine guy in the truck (above), but especially for the machine gun enemy near the end (below).

8. Target the Middle Guy on the Truck First

Prioritizing the guy in the image above will allow you to move on to the next scene. During that next scene, the left guy cannot target you. Don’t hesitate to shoot him once or twice when his circle becomes dark before the middle guy dies, however.

9. Shoot the Missiles, Not the Missile Launcher

The enemy shooting missiles from the top of the truck is one of the exceptions to Tip 7. No matter how many times you shoot him, he’ll still fire off his missiles.

That means 2 things: 1) You want to focus on his missiles, not him. Shoot them down fast, as they have a tendency to go off-camera long before they get close to Date’s car. 2) You should focus on the other enemies instead in between missiles.

Of course, you CAN (and should) target him when no enemies are visible. Just don’t expect to fully take him out before all of the vehicles are out of the picture.

10. Juggle the Health of Kiryu and Dante’s Car

You will see different opinions on if it’s more important to preserve Kiryu’s health or the health of the car. The answer is that it depends on your own strengths and weaknesses. The car does not tend to take much damage from gunfire. Rockets are a different story, however! These should not be hitting you OR the car!

The final enemy in the truck will not take out your full health by ramming you, but each hit takes out a good 60%. For this reason, I prefer to keep Kiryu’s health over 60% if possible. This will allow me to use Heat Eye on the last enemy without worries. As an extra bonus, the car does not tend to take much damage from gunfire. Make sure to keep the cover button pressed when Kiryu needs to dodge gunfire, or he will pop out of the window again on his own.

Failing to keep Kiryu over 60% health, it’s fine to use him as a meat shield, as long as he doesn’t die. There is no real difference between reaching the last enemy with 59% health or 1% health. Having either Kiryu or the car above 60% health gives you an extra life (assuming you use the cover function correctly). Having both at above 60% gives you 2 extra lives (and the luxury of being allowed to mess up the cover function once).

One life CAN be enough to take out the first enemy. It’s a bit unlikely, however, especially if you’re a bit nervous, so every bit helps.

11. Allow Heat Eye to Fully Load during Quiet Moments of the Shootout

During quiet moments while fighting a single enemy, you can potentially keep them alive while allowing Heat Eye to fully load for the next phase of the shootout. The main opponents that come to mind are the high-health enemies on top of the truck. You can use this trick for both the rocket launcher and machine gun guy. This is more of an advanced tip with not as much benefit as some of the others, however. It could also backfire, so don’t feel forced to use it.

Bonus Shootout Tip For PC Users: Use a Mouse

Real Yakuza may be using a Gamepad, but you can afford to temporarily not be a real Yakuza if the shootout frustrates you. Seriously, though: while most of Yakuza Kiwami leans itself to a controller, I found the shootout significantly easily using a mouse.

Video Guide

As a final resort, you can combine the above tips with a video guide. I found the above one by Tash I the best one. He prioritizes targets well and indicates this priority visually, so feel free to pause regularly! I do have one nitpick, though. He mentions aiming at necks, for which your mileage will vary depending on the enemy. I find aiming in the middle of the circle to be more effective. Aiming for the neck is definitely superior to aiming for the head, however.

Conclusion

Look, I do think the above tips are solid, but I know it’s not enough to magically make you succeed right away. The shootout is the most frustrating part of Yakuza Kiwami for most players, especially on Legend Difficulty. But you are allowed a few small mistakes each try. You just need to limit the total amount of mistakes. By using these tips and continuing to practice, you’ll get further and further. Eventually, you WILL make it. You got this!

The post 11 Tips for the Yakuza Kiwami Shootout Scene (+1 Bonus Tip for PC Users) appeared first on Answers for Gamers.

Why the Lau Ka Long Fight Can Get Stuck (And How to Fix It)

The fight against Lau Ka Long in Yakuza Kiwami has 3 phases. Some fighting animations do not allow him to transition to the next phase, however. If you’re in this situation, you can wail on him all you want. Even if his HP bar is empty, he’s still not going down. Essence of Sumo Slapping enjoyers, for example, may run into this issue.

The solution is to throw in some regular punches in between of your favorite Heat moves. This will allow Lau Ka Long to switch phases, after which you can continue fighting as normal. You can force him to move to Phase 2 after depleting his first health bar, then to Phase 3 after depleting his second health bar. If you prefer, you can also move him to his second and third phase while he is already on his last health bar.

The Phases of the Lau Ka Long Fight

The phases of the Lau Ka Long Fight are as follows:

1. At the start of the fight, he fights with a spear
2. After you deplete his first health bar, he switches to dual-wielding swords
3. At the end of the fight, he fights hand-to-hand

Depending on your stats and fighting style, it is also possible he will be unarmed for a while between the first and the second phase.

Why This Bug Goes Largely Unnoticed

Most animations that prevent Lau Ka Long from switching phases require Heat. Because of this, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter this bug unless you loaded up heavily on consumables. Even then, your stats may not be high enough to finish the fight without normal actions.

On the Legend Difficulty, however, it’s a different story. First of all, your stats are likely maxed out unlike on your first playthrough. Secondly, you may have earned the War God Talisman from the Climax Battles, which generates an endless amount of Heat. That is why most players who do encounter this bug, do so on Legend difficulty.

The post Lau Ka Long Fight Does Not End in Yakuza Kiwami appeared first on Answers for Gamers.

Is Beating Majima in Your First Fight Possible?

Beating Majima the first time you encounter him in Yakuza Kiwami is possible but tricky. It requires a solid grasp of the battle system, which you likely don’t have yet at this stage of your playthrough.  The Mad Dog style Majima uses in this fight is very volatile, though, which makes it even more of a struggle.

Is It Worth the Effort to Defeat Majima The First Time?

In my opinion, it’s definitely not worth the effort or the frustration.

From a gameplay perspective, Majima is a lot stronger in this encounter than what you can expect after. He does more damage, uses a more unpredictable style and has a lot more hitpoints than in future fights. Defeat during this fight does not mean your skills are not enough to beat him during the following fights.

From a story perspective, there is very little payoff to beating him during this fight. There is only a small dialogue change (listed below) and no special recognition from Kiryu or Majima. If you want, you can easily do it yourself in New Game+, since you keep all of your stats and styles (and items, though you likely will not need them).

Changed Dialogue for Beating Majima in Your First Fight

The screenshot above shows the only part of the dialogue that changes if you win this fight. After that, the conversation goes the same way as if you had lost.

Kiryu will lament his own weakness, Majima does not recognize his strength. You’re the one out of breath although you won, Majima seems unphased. Our dear Goro-kun even goes as far as to still call us just another punk in the streets.

Not exactly the payoff you would hope for when victory is a struggle that is likely to take you quite a few tries, in my opinion.

How To Defeat Majima During Your First Fight

Recognizing the end of long combos and attacking him in the back at the end of them (no long combos of your own!) can work. You can also stunlock him in Rush mode, but even then it is going to take a long time. Video credit for this goes to ImperialRoads:

The post Beating Majima in Your First Fight in Yakuza Kiwami appeared first on Answers for Gamers.