There's something special about all Yakuza games; something personal that shows quality, passion and attention to weird, quirky details. My first Yakuza game was 3, I thought the game was one of the best PS3 games the console had offered. It was narrative heavy with great characters, excellent, aggressive combat system and it looked gorgeous.
Year after year, Yakuza games kept coming out, and every time they came out there was the question of whether Sega would release them states side or not. At the end they would release them, but unfortunately late. So, this year we got Yakuza 0, and two years late from the initial release date, but as if to make up for it, we will be getting another Yakuza game by the end of the year, and another the year after.
So how dose a two year old game hold up? It holds up well, matter of fact, it holds up really well.
I usually don't give the slightest fuck about narrative in games; it's just not the ideal medium for storytelling, that's not saying there are no great stories in games. It's just harder to tell a great story alongside great gameplay. Also i'm not saying there are no great stories in games, and one of the best examples of really good story's in gaming is Yakuza.
The narrative in the game, as well as all Yakuza games I've played, suffer from the usual issues in videogames, but what Yakuza dose differently: is embrace the fact that it's a videogame. So if you can look away from the usual bits of ludonarrative dissonance there is a great piece of juicy meat to enjoy. Furthermore, the story in Yakuza is basically sop-opera, but what makes it a great story is the characters. The writers and artists worked together to fashion characters you could almost see their digital aura from your screen. From the moment I saw Kiryu Kazuma I had a figurative non-sexual hard-on. The way they draw the characters is different from any other studio; the design and animation always had a touch of realism, and it's not just based on the high-def quality of graphics.
The story in Yakuza is mostly dramatic and filled with action, but what sets it apart from others is the comedy. The quirky Japanese comedy is really well written and delivered, I laughed out loud more than any other game. Whether it's from the Michel Jackson-like popstar, the well-mannered girl working an S&M parlor, or even Mr. Shakedown.
Another point to the narrative everyone should know, there is a lot of it, MGS 2 and 4 a lot. But unlike MGS, there is enough gameplay to balance it out. Also the cut-scenes aren't as monotonous, and the story is actually comprehensible and makes sense.
Anyway, enough about the narrative and let's dive into the gameplay. Yakuza is an open world, beat 'em up, RPG with tons of mini games. The sand-box world you play in is small compared to heavy hitters such as GTA and Witcher. But what Yakuza dose is fill that small map with details, content and, more than any other game, gives the world character. You could say that Kamurocho -which is the city Yakuza games are based in- is one of the main characters in all the Yakuza games.
The combat in Yakuza is like no other: it's aggressive, fast and above all satisfying-as-fuck. You play as two characters: Kiryu Kazuma and Goro Majima. Each has four combat styles with their own upgrade trees, and each style plays differently and has its own side missions to complete. As an example: you need to find a trainer to teach you certain moves in one of the styles. So you have to seek that side-quest story line to upgrade. The upgrades will keep the combat fresh and exciting with new moves, extended combos, variations of heat actions (which is basically a super), give you buffs to your health and abilities.
More to the gameplay, there are tons and tons of mini-games you could dive into for hours. Most significant ones are the Real Estate side-quest for Kiryu and the Club Management for Majima. Oddly some of these mini-games are over detailed; such as the women's underground fighting arena. You could participate in by championing a fighter and betting on her. Each fighter has a set of stats of which you could choose to bet on. You can see the match in full, and it's ridiculously over detailed with so many animations. Another side-quest you could play is the fighting arena which you could actually fight in. It's also done with great care and amazing amount of variations to the enemies.
You could literally double the amount of play time, or even triple it if you dive in the side-missions and mini-games.
When it comes to the sound track, it's mostly Japanese rock, but fortunately it's not too Japanese and it's just instrumental. What the sound track dose is that it complements the aggressiveness of the combat; when you fight a boss, the moment right before the cut-scene ends and the fight starts is enough to fill your adrenaline to fucking max.
In the end, there is a lot more I could write about the game, but I like to keep it short and give you the chance to experience most of it. Just know that all Yakuza games are made with great quality and attention to details, and the experience you get here is like no other. The game can take you from 30 hours to 120 hours, I finished the game in around 60 hours and still I want get back in and break faces with bikes, pile-drive dudes on in the middle of the street, grab a dude by the leg, swing him and break his back on a land post, dodge a punch and break a dude's neck, kick a guy in the face and send him flying, stab a guy in the kidney, break a dude's teeth with my baseball bat, throw a guy from a third floor window, slash a mob of gangsters with a Katana, use a couch to beat up a mob, use a pliers pick someones teeth out mid-fight, etc.
The story in Yakuza is mostly dramatic and filled with action, but what sets it apart from others is the comedy. The quirky Japanese comedy is really well written and delivered, I laughed out loud more than any other game. Whether it's from the Michel Jackson-like popstar, the well-mannered girl working an S&M parlor, or even Mr. Shakedown.
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| Mr. Libido |
Anyway, enough about the narrative and let's dive into the gameplay. Yakuza is an open world, beat 'em up, RPG with tons of mini games. The sand-box world you play in is small compared to heavy hitters such as GTA and Witcher. But what Yakuza dose is fill that small map with details, content and, more than any other game, gives the world character. You could say that Kamurocho -which is the city Yakuza games are based in- is one of the main characters in all the Yakuza games.
The combat in Yakuza is like no other: it's aggressive, fast and above all satisfying-as-fuck. You play as two characters: Kiryu Kazuma and Goro Majima. Each has four combat styles with their own upgrade trees, and each style plays differently and has its own side missions to complete. As an example: you need to find a trainer to teach you certain moves in one of the styles. So you have to seek that side-quest story line to upgrade. The upgrades will keep the combat fresh and exciting with new moves, extended combos, variations of heat actions (which is basically a super), give you buffs to your health and abilities.
More to the gameplay, there are tons and tons of mini-games you could dive into for hours. Most significant ones are the Real Estate side-quest for Kiryu and the Club Management for Majima. Oddly some of these mini-games are over detailed; such as the women's underground fighting arena. You could participate in by championing a fighter and betting on her. Each fighter has a set of stats of which you could choose to bet on. You can see the match in full, and it's ridiculously over detailed with so many animations. Another side-quest you could play is the fighting arena which you could actually fight in. It's also done with great care and amazing amount of variations to the enemies.
You could literally double the amount of play time, or even triple it if you dive in the side-missions and mini-games.
When it comes to the sound track, it's mostly Japanese rock, but fortunately it's not too Japanese and it's just instrumental. What the sound track dose is that it complements the aggressiveness of the combat; when you fight a boss, the moment right before the cut-scene ends and the fight starts is enough to fill your adrenaline to fucking max.
In the end, there is a lot more I could write about the game, but I like to keep it short and give you the chance to experience most of it. Just know that all Yakuza games are made with great quality and attention to details, and the experience you get here is like no other. The game can take you from 30 hours to 120 hours, I finished the game in around 60 hours and still I want get back in and break faces with bikes, pile-drive dudes on in the middle of the street, grab a dude by the leg, swing him and break his back on a land post, dodge a punch and break a dude's neck, kick a guy in the face and send him flying, stab a guy in the kidney, break a dude's teeth with my baseball bat, throw a guy from a third floor window, slash a mob of gangsters with a Katana, use a couch to beat up a mob, use a pliers pick someones teeth out mid-fight, etc.
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