I love how Nishiki was just a bare-bone villain in the original Yakuza and then they add more and more nuances starting from his spin-off counterpart in Ishin, to 0 and Kiwami. Makes him much more than just a villain. Ironically, I like his theme song in Ishin the most
Agreed. As much as I love all versions of "For Whose Sake", this is my favorite as well. It is one of the Ishin boss fights that I enjoy the most, and music is to blame for that. And it's a duel to death. The fact that we actually kill him add a lot of weight.
@@lyricsghost2547 yup, on the topic of killing, maybe this is why I rank Ishin in the top tier RGG games. It's refreshing to see main character in this series doing a duel to death and actually openly kill someone major to the story. This does not mean I dislike Kiryu's resolve but Ishin as a spin off is much more refreshing and especially in that setting, it's just possible to kill without much of a consequence, considering the situation and the time the game is set in, compared to the modern setting.
OG Yakuza 1 Nishiki: A longtime friend of Kiryu’s who betrays him just because the plot demands it. Kiwami 1 Nishiki: Betrays his best friend due to jealousy and everything around him falling apart and becomes a tragic villain. Big ups to OG Ishin, 0 and Kiwami 1 for actually giving Nishiki character.
Izo takes a whole new dimension when you realize that he was Nishiki's first appearance in the series since the first game in Ishin's original release. For us Westerners, we saw him in Zero and Kiwami before this game, after all. I like how he's a rival to Ryoma in a way that extends to the player as well, at least in my personal experience, I started from a rough first encounter that made me dread Legend difficulty and found him easier and easier as things went on, culminating in a no damage fight at the final encounter. Also one thing I appreciate is how the final fight has Ryoma not wear his Shinsengumi Haori, he's not Saito Hajime, he's not on a Shinsengumi mission, it's just him in his purest form and hiding nothing from Izo, much like Izo hides nothing at this point either.
Nishikiyama is my favorite character in the series. I started out with Yakuza 0, and I immediately fell in love. He had this swagger about him that just made him seem so gravitating. The way he and Kiryu bounce off each other in their first scene together establishes such an amazing chemistry. His brotherhood with Kiryu constantly waxing and waning. Tragically showing that despite their strong bond. There are deep rooted flaws in how they treat each other. As their contrasts become conflict in Yakuza 1. Their differences reaching a boil that was so expertly laid by 0. Nishikiyama is my favorite character because I see myself in him. And I don't wanna say that in the incel way. But rather I see how he has an explosive temper, feels inferior to his peers, lashing out at the world as it fucks with him, retreating into isolation. I started Yakuza 0 as a joke because I saw 24 Hour Cinderella and made an impulse buy. I was blown away by how invested I became. In that time you could say I was a lot like Nishiki in Yakuza 1. Withdrawn, paranoid, bitter, lonely, wanting more but not knowing how to go about it in a healthy way. The end of 1 broke my heart and broke my worldview. It started me actually trying to put in effort to change. Because it showed that even though Nishiki was still so far gone. He can still do the right thing and change. I can do the right thing and change. It hasn't been easy, I relapsed quite a bit and even hit my rock bottom recently. But nothing good ever comes super easy. Change especially, thanks to Nishikiyama blowing himself up the waterfall. He ended up taking me with him in some way. So overall I am doing much better than previously but it was very rocky. So thank you for making such a great analysis, kyodai.
Nishiki's aura is red in the PS2 original game, not blue. It was changed to deep blue in Kiwami because Kiryu has a red aura himself for the Dragon style, which is canonically his style in 1 and the rest of the series post-0. The Dragon aura itself is red because Brawler has the blue, original aura, so in the end Kiryu and Nishiki, because of gameplay mechanics, ended up trading aura colors. This is why Izo's aura in the original Ishin is red. Besides that, pretty interesting analysis of Izo and Nishiki. I did find it a bit odd that Izo was fully the darker side of Nishiki but him being the darkest interpretation of the character makes it make sense. Nishiki himself is one of my favorite characters because of the added background from both 0 and Kiwami. It humanizes him so much and shows how and why he turned against everyone, but even then in his last moments, he chose to go out in his own terms by saving the 2 people he loved the most.
Ishin is such a cool game, I actually don't think I've seen many other series use the idea of putting characters in a different setting to actually flesh out the characters on a meta-level. I thought it would be pure fanservice like "nishiki is an evil rival character, so this evil rival character looks like him too." But we see a whole lot of interesting alternate takes on characters. Majima's duality, Mine's heroic side, Aizawa's more pathetic side (lol), Kiryu's more violent side. These are all things we see hints of in the main series, but its really novel to use this "alternate" spin-off in way that stands alone but also fleshes out the mirror counterparts. Just a really novel way to flesh out characters, still telling its own story, and not muddying another story with prequels/flashbacks/etc. (as a side note, I would love to see more music analysis! I know nothing about musical structure so I'm always slack-jawed by these!)
I’ll always appreciate Ishin for basically giving up hints to what would become 0 Majima & Nishiki. So many layers put upon them, and it all came from a spin-off 😭✨
now that I finished the video, I love that you focus on the heat color, it's something I really like in RGG games, even in Yakuza 6 where all the enemies are red, you can imagine it's kiryu in rage or something since at that game, it's mostly life or death situation for Haruka/Haruto and they mean a lot to him, therefore all the enemies having red is I think how KIryu sees all his opponents in that game; the oppositions standing against him in his journey to save his family Love how RGG deliberately changes Izo's heat color in the remake
Izo's theme playing in the final battle is my second favourite use of a theme in the series, behind the sewer Kuze fight. Being my favourite version of the theme helps too.
My views on Nishiki have somewhat changed as I played through these games. I started out not caring for him too much in Yakuza 0. Then he earned my respect by making me fight him twice because I didn't take him seriously in the first fight. And then when I saw him in Ishin, honestly, he made me teary eyed. I can definitely understand why he's one of the best villains/antagonists in the series now.
Great video! The four Izo fights are one of my favourite multiple boss fights in the game type deal along with Kuze and Someya. Speaking of, one day I'd love to see a Someya analytical piece as he's a character who doesn't get talked about too much.
I do feel a lot of sorry for Nishiki and how hard he got screwed in Life..but i do kinda like his maniacial Evil persona a bit more than he being Kiryus BFF..
I honestly want to see more of Nishiki. Like I really wanted a game that stars Nishiki as the main playable protagonist and it takes place during the 10 years Kiryu has been in jail (1995-2005) and the later chapters would tell Kiwami’s story from Nishiki’s point of view. For example those Yakuza Online videos that starred Nishiki and his men (Arase, and Kanda for example) I especially loved the story in which Nishiki took revenge against the doctor that scammed him out of 30 million which resulted in his sister’s death by selling the doctor for the exact same price. ua-cam.com/video/Zmhysefir-8/v-deo.html
if you think about it Ichiban is basically an alternate Nishiki that went to jail instead. His tattoo is that of the dragon fish which is the in between phase of the koi and dragon after it swims up the waterfall through the dragon gate and becomes a dragon. also in 7 Kiryu gets to return the favor of stopping Ichiban from killing someone the same way Nishki stopped him at the end of 0. also if you think about it Ichiban was able to make loyal allies unlike Nishki whose family didn't respect him. Oh and they both have the same voice actor.
Thank you for this video. I almost cried when I got platinum for this game. You are so right about the 9 years wait. I'm truly grateful this had a Western release. Again, thank you for the in-depth character analysis. It's a pleasure to subscribe to your channel.
Yakuza Kiwami was my first personal experience with the series. And to be honest, I was highly disappointed with how Nishiki's character was handled. His personal connection to Kiryu is great. His backstory is great. In my opinion the character faceplants in that he has _zero involvement_ in the main storyline. He shows up a couple of times reacting to what is happening, but he has no active involvement doing anything. Then after the main plot is concluded, he shows up out of nowhere and goes, "We have to fight now." An enormous waste of a good character.
The name of Izo's final theme being "For My Sake" makes so much sense. For the longest time I thought the title was "For Your Sake," I guess Google Translate failed me on that one.
Yep, 我が為に, waga tame ni, for my sake. Maybe Google Translate confused 我が (waga) with 我 (ware) and got the second person pronoun meaning (source wiktionary), I myself think it's a stretch since that's used for "my" widely more as well, but who knows.
I think announcing Ishin along side Gaiden and 8 really killed the hype for the game. While people were obviously excited for Ishin big games like Gaiden and 8 just overshadow a remake of a 9 year old game, even though it was originally a Japanese exclusive
Your deconstructions are always great, and Ishin really was such a fantastic game. You and I both understand the struggles of platinuming it, the crafting/farming was misery, but the theming, character selection, story, and characters were all super worthwhile. ^^
I admit I didn't buy Ishin Kiwami because I already saw a lets play of the original and the actor and gameplay changes turned me off from buying it. its my fault that Ishin came and went because I'm sure I wasn't the only person who did this.
amazing video brodai but there is one fault with it at 13:02 nishiki never had a blue aura in ps2 yakuza 1 instead he has a pinkish red aura proof: ua-cam.com/video/LK1EoKE1iU8/v-deo.html
@@gokudoni its fine but yeah heat auras are confusing as some bosses change through put games like lau has a yellow one in og1 but in 3 he has a blue one then in k1 he has a yellow one again
12:56 As others said, Nishiki's aura in the original PS2 game was actually pale red, Ishin keeps the red from the original and Kiwami changes it to contrast with the Dragon red aura, it can be a simple change, but maybe it was supposed to represent Nishiki's acquired interpretation from 0 or just a meaning of depression overall.
For me personally the negatives of the remake unfortunately overshadowed the games strengths, which is why I don't talk about it much. If Rgg had localized and ported the game in it's original form instead, I think it would be much easier for me to focus on the good things and find enjoyment and appreciation for Ishin. All that aside you did a fantasic job on this video! Loved it ❤
Not sure if you're into anime or manga, but I would personally recommend Gintama. Its primarily a comedy series, but it uses its comedy to give unique layers to the huge cast of characters you'd never see. It also takes place in the Bakamatsu period but after aliens invaded the country and technology advanced sl rapidly that it may as well take place in the modern day. The majn character, Sakata Gintoki, even lives in Kabukicho. Youll notice a lot of similarities portrayed between both Ishin and this series as while not 100% historically accurate in the slightest, knowing some historical context makes a lot of jokes funnier, though not required to enjoy it. Also a lot of character names are different. You may even notice a handful of characters being voiced by those in the LaD series. I really hope Bandai Namco allows the team to make a game about Gintama someday. It's the ultimate pipedream.
Oh yeah! I haven't watched all of it (currently on season 4), but Gintama quickly became one of my all-time favourite series (and the serious arcs broke me emotionally, much like Yakuza tends do hahah). If we got a FOTNS game, then having a GIntama game could work out as well! The humour in particular would flow incredibly well with RGG.
@gokudoni What episode are you on currently? I ask cuz "Season 4" could refer to episodes 151-202 or 317-367. EDIT: Also random but in the 2nd Gintama character book released on 2009, mangaka Hideaki Sorachi showed off his studio where he works at and showed some games he was playing at the time, and one of them was RGG3, which is cool.
@@RoboticEdward Good point! It's OG season 4 (the first batch of episodes on MAL, if you use that site). Sorachi is a legend hahah. Maybe in LAD8 we can have a substory where he finally turns into a cheeseburger, like he always wanted hahah
Nishiki became a victim at the wrong time
I love how Nishiki was just a bare-bone villain in the original Yakuza and then they add more and more nuances starting from his spin-off counterpart in Ishin, to 0 and Kiwami. Makes him much more than just a villain.
Ironically, I like his theme song in Ishin the most
Agreed. As much as I love all versions of "For Whose Sake", this is my favorite as well. It is one of the Ishin boss fights that I enjoy the most, and music is to blame for that. And it's a duel to death. The fact that we actually kill him add a lot of weight.
@@lyricsghost2547 yup, on the topic of killing, maybe this is why I rank Ishin in the top tier RGG games. It's refreshing to see main character in this series doing a duel to death and actually openly kill someone major to the story. This does not mean I dislike Kiryu's resolve but Ishin as a spin off is much more refreshing and especially in that setting, it's just possible to kill without much of a consequence, considering the situation and the time the game is set in, compared to the modern setting.
The improvised solo in the Ishin version of Nishikis theme is good. It’s my favorite rendition of Nishikis theme
OG Yakuza 1 Nishiki: A longtime friend of Kiryu’s who betrays him just because the plot demands it.
Kiwami 1 Nishiki: Betrays his best friend due to jealousy and everything around him falling apart and becomes a tragic villain.
Big ups to OG Ishin, 0 and Kiwami 1 for actually giving Nishiki character.
OG Y1: TEN YEARS IN THE JOINT
You may know but Shindo has Okada Izo’s moveset in Kiwami
Izo takes a whole new dimension when you realize that he was Nishiki's first appearance in the series since the first game in Ishin's original release. For us Westerners, we saw him in Zero and Kiwami before this game, after all.
I like how he's a rival to Ryoma in a way that extends to the player as well, at least in my personal experience, I started from a rough first encounter that made me dread Legend difficulty and found him easier and easier as things went on, culminating in a no damage fight at the final encounter.
Also one thing I appreciate is how the final fight has Ryoma not wear his Shinsengumi Haori, he's not Saito Hajime, he's not on a Shinsengumi mission, it's just him in his purest form and hiding nothing from Izo, much like Izo hides nothing at this point either.
Nishikiyama is my favorite character in the series. I started out with Yakuza 0, and I immediately fell in love. He had this swagger about him that just made him seem so gravitating. The way he and Kiryu bounce off each other in their first scene together establishes such an amazing chemistry.
His brotherhood with Kiryu constantly waxing and waning. Tragically showing that despite their strong bond. There are deep rooted flaws in how they treat each other. As their contrasts become conflict in Yakuza 1. Their differences reaching a boil that was so expertly laid by 0.
Nishikiyama is my favorite character because I see myself in him. And I don't wanna say that in the incel way. But rather I see how he has an explosive temper, feels inferior to his peers, lashing out at the world as it fucks with him, retreating into isolation. I started Yakuza 0 as a joke because I saw 24 Hour Cinderella and made an impulse buy. I was blown away by how invested I became. In that time you could say I was a lot like Nishiki in Yakuza 1. Withdrawn, paranoid, bitter, lonely, wanting more but not knowing how to go about it in a healthy way.
The end of 1 broke my heart and broke my worldview. It started me actually trying to put in effort to change. Because it showed that even though Nishiki was still so far gone. He can still do the right thing and change. I can do the right thing and change.
It hasn't been easy, I relapsed quite a bit and even hit my rock bottom recently. But nothing good ever comes super easy. Change especially, thanks to Nishikiyama blowing himself up the waterfall. He ended up taking me with him in some way. So overall I am doing much better than previously but it was very rocky.
So thank you for making such a great analysis, kyodai.
Nishiki's aura is red in the PS2 original game, not blue. It was changed to deep blue in Kiwami because Kiryu has a red aura himself for the Dragon style, which is canonically his style in 1 and the rest of the series post-0. The Dragon aura itself is red because Brawler has the blue, original aura, so in the end Kiryu and Nishiki, because of gameplay mechanics, ended up trading aura colors. This is why Izo's aura in the original Ishin is red.
Besides that, pretty interesting analysis of Izo and Nishiki. I did find it a bit odd that Izo was fully the darker side of Nishiki but him being the darkest interpretation of the character makes it make sense. Nishiki himself is one of my favorite characters because of the added background from both 0 and Kiwami. It humanizes him so much and shows how and why he turned against everyone, but even then in his last moments, he chose to go out in his own terms by saving the 2 people he loved the most.
Ishin is such a cool game, I actually don't think I've seen many other series use the idea of putting characters in a different setting to actually flesh out the characters on a meta-level. I thought it would be pure fanservice like "nishiki is an evil rival character, so this evil rival character looks like him too."
But we see a whole lot of interesting alternate takes on characters. Majima's duality, Mine's heroic side, Aizawa's more pathetic side (lol), Kiryu's more violent side. These are all things we see hints of in the main series, but its really novel to use this "alternate" spin-off in way that stands alone but also fleshes out the mirror counterparts. Just a really novel way to flesh out characters, still telling its own story, and not muddying another story with prequels/flashbacks/etc.
(as a side note, I would love to see more music analysis! I know nothing about musical structure so I'm always slack-jawed by these!)
I’ll always appreciate Ishin for basically giving up hints to what would become 0 Majima & Nishiki. So many layers put upon them, and it all came from a spin-off 😭✨
now that I finished the video, I love that you focus on the heat color, it's something I really like in RGG games, even in Yakuza 6 where all the enemies are red, you can imagine it's kiryu in rage or something since at that game, it's mostly life or death situation for Haruka/Haruto and they mean a lot to him, therefore all the enemies having red is I think how KIryu sees all his opponents in that game; the oppositions standing against him in his journey to save his family
Love how RGG deliberately changes Izo's heat color in the remake
Izo's theme playing in the final battle is my second favourite use of a theme in the series, behind the sewer Kuze fight. Being my favourite version of the theme helps too.
My views on Nishiki have somewhat changed as I played through these games. I started out not caring for him too much in Yakuza 0. Then he earned my respect by making me fight him twice because I didn't take him seriously in the first fight. And then when I saw him in Ishin, honestly, he made me teary eyed.
I can definitely understand why he's one of the best villains/antagonists in the series now.
Great video! The four Izo fights are one of my favourite multiple boss fights in the game type deal along with Kuze and Someya. Speaking of, one day I'd love to see a Someya analytical piece as he's a character who doesn't get talked about too much.
Thank you for the compliment! Someya is genuinely one of my favourite bosses to date. You can definitely expect a video on him down the line! :D
it would be cool for a ichiban samurai game
I do feel a lot of sorry for Nishiki and how hard he got screwed in Life..but i do kinda like his maniacial Evil persona a bit more than he being Kiryus BFF..
Nishki is probably in my top 3 villians
Another masterpiece of a video man! 🤜💥🤛
I honestly want to see more of Nishiki. Like I really wanted a game that stars Nishiki as the main playable protagonist and it takes place during the 10 years Kiryu has been in jail (1995-2005) and the later chapters would tell Kiwami’s story from Nishiki’s point of view.
For example those Yakuza Online videos that starred Nishiki and his men (Arase, and Kanda for example)
I especially loved the story in which Nishiki took revenge against the doctor that scammed him out of 30 million which resulted in his sister’s death by selling the doctor for the exact same price. ua-cam.com/video/Zmhysefir-8/v-deo.html
if you think about it Ichiban is basically an alternate Nishiki that went to jail instead. His tattoo is that of the dragon fish which is the in between phase of the koi and dragon after it swims up the waterfall through the dragon gate and becomes a dragon. also in 7 Kiryu gets to return the favor of stopping Ichiban from killing someone the same way Nishki stopped him at the end of 0. also if you think about it Ichiban was able to make loyal allies unlike Nishki whose family didn't respect him. Oh and they both have the same voice actor.
Thank you for this video. I almost cried when I got platinum for this game. You are so right about the 9 years wait. I'm truly grateful this had a Western release. Again, thank you for the in-depth character analysis. It's a pleasure to subscribe to your channel.
they just wait for it to be free
too many games to select these days, and im not sure everyone have enough fund to buy it all
THE GOAT OKADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Yakuza Kiwami was my first personal experience with the series. And to be honest, I was highly disappointed with how Nishiki's character was handled. His personal connection to Kiryu is great. His backstory is great. In my opinion the character faceplants in that he has _zero involvement_ in the main storyline. He shows up a couple of times reacting to what is happening, but he has no active involvement doing anything. Then after the main plot is concluded, he shows up out of nowhere and goes, "We have to fight now."
An enormous waste of a good character.
The name of Izo's final theme being "For My Sake" makes so much sense. For the longest time I thought the title was "For Your Sake," I guess Google Translate failed me on that one.
Yep, 我が為に, waga tame ni, for my sake. Maybe Google Translate confused 我が (waga) with 我 (ware) and got the second person pronoun meaning (source wiktionary), I myself think it's a stretch since that's used for "my" widely more as well, but who knows.
Nice video 💯
Nishiki is the goat !!!! Wish he could be back in a spinoff or something like that
Great
I think announcing Ishin along side Gaiden and 8 really killed the hype for the game. While people were obviously excited for Ishin big games like Gaiden and 8 just overshadow a remake of a 9 year old game, even though it was originally a Japanese exclusive
Bloody love the video
You killed it as usual
Can't wait for more videos you make,just great stuff 😭
Your deconstructions are always great, and Ishin really was such a fantastic game. You and I both understand the struggles of platinuming it, the crafting/farming was misery, but the theming, character selection, story, and characters were all super worthwhile. ^^
Why, fishiki...
I admit I didn't buy Ishin Kiwami because I already saw a lets play of the original and the actor and gameplay changes turned me off from buying it. its my fault that Ishin came and went because I'm sure I wasn't the only person who did this.
I'm gonna have to save this video for later because I haven't played Ishin yet 😢
Wait are you saying nishki would been a bigger threat had spent 10 years in jail damn if he became like izo
what happened to nishikis face in ishin😭😭
How did you get so much heat at 4:55? With all the upgrades the max I can get is VI
Probably got it after the Limit Break at Komaki's dojo. You can just keep getting higher and higher stats if you're willing to keep grinding for them.
I already gave it a like but gonna come back after i finish ishin
amazing video brodai but there is one fault with it at 13:02 nishiki never had a blue aura in ps2 yakuza 1 instead he has a pinkish red aura proof: ua-cam.com/video/LK1EoKE1iU8/v-deo.html
Thank you for pointing it out! For whatever reason, I remembered it being mainly white, like in Ishin Kiwami's first half. It happens hahah
@@gokudoni its fine but yeah heat auras are confusing as some bosses change through put games like lau has a yellow one in og1 but in 3 he has a blue one then in k1 he has a yellow one again
12:56 As others said, Nishiki's aura in the original PS2 game was actually pale red, Ishin keeps the red from the original and Kiwami changes it to contrast with the Dragon red aura, it can be a simple change, but maybe it was supposed to represent Nishiki's acquired interpretation from 0 or just a meaning of depression overall.
For me personally the negatives of the remake unfortunately overshadowed the games strengths, which is why I don't talk about it much. If Rgg had localized and ported the game in it's original form instead, I think it would be much easier for me to focus on the good things and find enjoyment and appreciation for Ishin.
All that aside you did a fantasic job on this video! Loved it ❤
In ps2 he had red aura.
Not sure if you're into anime or manga, but I would personally recommend Gintama. Its primarily a comedy series, but it uses its comedy to give unique layers to the huge cast of characters you'd never see. It also takes place in the Bakamatsu period but after aliens invaded the country and technology advanced sl rapidly that it may as well take place in the modern day. The majn character, Sakata Gintoki, even lives in Kabukicho. Youll notice a lot of similarities portrayed between both Ishin and this series as while not 100% historically accurate in the slightest, knowing some historical context makes a lot of jokes funnier, though not required to enjoy it. Also a lot of character names are different. You may even notice a handful of characters being voiced by those in the LaD series. I really hope Bandai Namco allows the team to make a game about Gintama someday. It's the ultimate pipedream.
Oh yeah! I haven't watched all of it (currently on season 4), but Gintama quickly became one of my all-time favourite series (and the serious arcs broke me emotionally, much like Yakuza tends do hahah). If we got a FOTNS game, then having a GIntama game could work out as well! The humour in particular would flow incredibly well with RGG.
@gokudoni What episode are you on currently? I ask cuz "Season 4" could refer to episodes 151-202 or 317-367.
EDIT: Also random but in the 2nd Gintama character book released on 2009, mangaka Hideaki Sorachi showed off his studio where he works at and showed some games he was playing at the time, and one of them was RGG3, which is cool.
@@RoboticEdward Good point! It's OG season 4 (the first batch of episodes on MAL, if you use that site). Sorachi is a legend hahah. Maybe in LAD8 we can have a substory where he finally turns into a cheeseburger, like he always wanted hahah
@@gokudoni We need a sub story detailing the creation of the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon
nshk "jealous" to Kiryu (bro hated himself)
izo jealous to ryouma (holy shit bro hates ryouma)
Kuze supremacy