PixlBit

Yakuza 0 is a prequel and where many people, including with myself started with the series. You should absolutely play it. If you do, I'll download Skyrim on Steam. 

I'd have to go back and play them, but I remember combat being really stiff all the way up to at least 4. And I don't know the specific move you're referring to, but I liked 9. On those points, fair enough, I could have forgotten how those games played. 

On the Aaron Black animations? I mean, he was never my favorite character, but ... meh? That kind of thing really does not affect my enjoyment of the game. In fact, the more I saw of that video, the more I liked the quick animations, though I guess the lack of telegraphing would be annoying to an opponent. 

That's one thing I miss about the arcades: the driving game cabinets. 

Yes! One for the home team ... assuming we're doing Kiwami, because while I haven't played them, I'm pretty sure I agree about PS2-era Yakuza ... 

The visual style reminds me of MGS VR missions. I didn't realize there was a story. 

Not as much as FFVI vs. Chrono Trigger as far as matchups. But I see where you're going with it and it'd be interesting to see who votes for either one. 

I have no stake in that whatsoever, but that's a really good idea for a cage match. Even if I will have zero input. lol

Snoop doggie dooooo -o- oooooog. 

Apparently, Cerebral Bore is also a death metal band, because how did I not already figure that would be the first Google Image result? 

I'm glad other people felt the same way I did about P.N. 03 at the time. Such a wasted opportunity. 

I need to stop buying games for hype I don't enjoy as much as everyone else. I need to stop owning God of War (2018), probably ... I miss rentals. 

I think they have the Sweet Tooth truck as DLC in Rocket League. 

Shazam! was fun, but mostly for the middle part. I thought the beginning and ending dragged and were full of tropes and bad 90s CGI. The meat in the middle makes up for it though. 

The Show is starting to sound really fun. 

I don't think reading and listening are the same, but you do get the same info. I tend to not count audiobooks the same way for yourself, only cause I'd like to improve my reading speed and comprehension, which audiobooks won't do. Honestly though, it just saves time depending on the book, so more power to you. By the way, lots of classic audiobooks are on Spotify for free. 

I don't know the comic book world well at all, but why is Super Mario Sunshine so damn expensive?!

I'm more surprised by Julian thinking XL is one of his least favorite Mortal Kombats than anything, honestly. The originals feel janky as hell to me. I will say I would have chosen Street Fighter as a franchise over Mortal Kombat as a franchise with no hesitation.

And whose fault was it that SFV launched like shit? MKXL all the way. 

STAGE SELECT: 

I dunno? The Witness? To be honest, I mostly find puzzles to be in the way of action in most games. So I'll just throw in a game I'm playing and enjoying that happens to be all puzzles. 

CAGE MATCH: 

Obviously, I'm choosing Yakuza, since I blanked on Skyrim being a specific game in the Elder Scrolls series and was meaning franchise vs. franchise ... meaning I guess I also blanked on the rules. Whoops. Would definitely have chosen 0 to go up against Skyrim if I'd remembered. 

Anyway, I'm going to assume we're doing Kiwami 1 vs. Elder Scrolls V, since the original PS2 Yakuza would get crushed here. I'm just going to say while I haven't played any Elder Scrolls except online, I prefer the real life Kamarucho/Kabukicho city in Tokyo to the fantasy setting of Elder Scrolls. Elder Scrolls is also sprawling, where I prefer the compact feel of the city in Tokyo, in which all the fun things are in walking distance. 

Plus, you have this heartwarming story of a gangster-with-a-heart-of-gold looking after an orphan girl after he finds her cowering in the corner of a bar after a deadly shootout, intense action, and it's all amid the backdrop of ... a trading card game that's basically sexy bug-themed mud wrestling, a photo booth mini-game, and a crazed-but-hilarious gangster so obsessed with fighting you he'll cross-dress to do it. And at no point do these tonal shifts feel unearned, which I feel is something only a video game can pull off. And that's what I appreciate most about Yakuza: It's a video gamer's video game, through and through, assuming you're mostly a single-player gamer. Do you play games for story? You'll love this. Do you play games for silliness and over-the-top action? You'll love this. Do you play games for surprisingly well-made mini-games? You'll love this. Do you play games to explore lovingly re-created virtual areas of real life places? You'll love this. Are you a hateful android incapable of love and simply want to destroy the world? You'll probably find at least one background character to relate to and love this. 

Now, granted, this is pretty humble beginnings for the series and it's going up against the 5th entry in what I assume is a stellar fantasy RPG, but as it started my favorite video game franchise of all time, my heart and soul will always vote Yakuza. 

... Again, unless we're talking about the janky ass PS2 English dub port, in which case I'll just go ahead and concede defeat, but with a vote for Yakuza (PS2) anyway, because I'm me. 

I've been pretty happy with stuff like Spider-Man, Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War (don't really like the game, but get the appeal), etc. selling as well as they have as single-player experiences. I'm hoping Fortnite and other online games are more the type of genre that goes freemium, since the appeal is the online component, while my single-player experiences (especially Yakuza) are left alone aside from optional DLC.