Yakuza Remastered Collection PC Patch Greatly Reduces CPU Usage

Once something of an unofficial mascot for Sony's PlayStation, the Yakuza series was finally published elsewhere when the Yakuza Remastered Collection came to Xbox and PC earlier this year. Of course, different platforms can result in different problems, and while Yakuza Remastered Collection always ran well on the PC, a new patch is making it run even better.

The collection bundles together Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 and updates the original PlayStation 3 graphics to fall more in line with modern games. The Yakuza series is known for its strangeness as well as it's beat 'em up gameplay, and the Yakuza Remastered Collection doesn't disappoint in either regard.

The new patch for the PC version of the game fixes a few glitches and user interface issues, but most impressively cuts down CPU usage by 30%. Yakuza Remastered Collection received generally positive reviews when it came to PC, and now players whose computers couldn't quite handle the trilogy before have a reason to give it another try. Luckily, Steam will install the patch automatically upon launch for anyone who already owns the game.

The remastered collection gives gamers a chance to go back and experience some of the earlier Yakuza games. For those wanting to go back to other games in the series, there is now a fan-made english dub of Yakuza: Black Panther, a title that was never officially released in the west, but for everyone else, Yakuza Remastered Collection for PC performs better than ever thanks to the newest patch.

Persona fans who have already conquered Persona 5 Royal have a long wait on their hands before the series receives its next main entry. While Persona 5 Strikers is just around the corner, players hungry for a more traditional JRPG experience are in luck, as another recently released title will likely satisfy those cravings perfectly. Complete with stat-boosting minigames, relationship building, and dating sim elements, the latest Yakuza game scratches the same itch. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the seventh installment in Sega's popular crime drama series, but unlike its action-based forerunners, the new game is a full-on, turn-based JRPG that stands by itself.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon follows the story of Ichiban Kasuga, a dedicated Yakuza who takes the fall for a crime he didn't commit, only to emerge from prison years later in a world he scarcely recognizes. Like Persona 5's Joker, Kasuga deals with prejudice based on his criminal record, and gravitates towards a colorful cast of other misfits who have been shunned, falsely accused, or otherwise marginalized by society. The game's real world setting and focus on heavy issues of abuse, sexuality, crime, and censorship feel more like Persona than most anime-styled fantasy JRPGs.

There is no denying the differences between Persona and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The former features a more fanciful world, firmly situated in Japanese Urban Fantasy tropes, while Yakuza blurs the line between the absurd and surreal, with the tone rapidly switch-hitting between screwball comedy and deadly serious crime drama.

There is no scheduling element (apart from aspects of the management mini-game) and the monster collection aspect of the game is a far cry from Persona's compendium. Yakuza's music and UX design is also arguably generic compared to Persona 5's distinctive visual design, and the game's exquisite soundtrack — which recently hit Spotify. But Phantom Thieves languishing between jobs should still check out Kasuga's adventures.