So I actually played both Judgment and Yakuza 0 before this. I loved them both and was excited to dive into the Yakuza series in order. Well I'm happy to say I do like this game overall, but it definitely has issues imo.
First things first, yes I did play this on my PS2 so I played with the dub. Honestly, it isn't absolutely terrible. I did actually think some moments were effective even with the voice acting. Plus John Dimaggio is in this a lot so that's epic. Obviously though, the dub can be bad a lot of the time too. Sometimes in very funny ways which really works in humorous scenes...and sometimes it happens in very serious scenes which does stink.
The story...was good overall I'd say. It does throw a bunch of lesser little fetch quests and stuff near the middle of the game and then saves the crazy stuff for the very end, which makes it feel a bit unfocused... but it does have some genuinely good moments I feel. Kiryu was surprisingly emotive in this game compared to Yakuza 0, thought that was interesting.
The combat is honestly solid. Once you get used to your entire move set, it's pretty fun. I really like the chunkiness Kiryu has in this game, it feels really good to punch dudes. The encounters can be annoying though, mostly if they have guns. The game feels a but unbalanced where if its a one-on-one fight with a brawler only enemy or boss, it's usually easy. However, if its an enemy with a gun it can be very frustrating. That 2nd to last battle was incredibly annoying, but at least the final fight was fun albeit too easy.
I didn't do many side missions but the ones I did were cool. The fixed camera in Kamurocho was kind of cool, made the town more atmospheric. I liked the ps2 feel this game had compared to Judgment or Yakuza 0.
While I cannot say I liked this nearly as much as Judgment or Yakuza 0, I did enjoy my time with it even if it's pretty flawed. If I played it subbed, it might be a 7 idk but with how I played it...I'll give it a 6.5.
I'm pretty excited for Yakuza 2 cuz I heard it improved on a lot of shit in this game and that it's peak.
First things first, yes I did play this on my PS2 so I played with the dub. Honestly, it isn't absolutely terrible. I did actually think some moments were effective even with the voice acting. Plus John Dimaggio is in this a lot so that's epic. Obviously though, the dub can be bad a lot of the time too. Sometimes in very funny ways which really works in humorous scenes...and sometimes it happens in very serious scenes which does stink.
The story...was good overall I'd say. It does throw a bunch of lesser little fetch quests and stuff near the middle of the game and then saves the crazy stuff for the very end, which makes it feel a bit unfocused... but it does have some genuinely good moments I feel. Kiryu was surprisingly emotive in this game compared to Yakuza 0, thought that was interesting.
The combat is honestly solid. Once you get used to your entire move set, it's pretty fun. I really like the chunkiness Kiryu has in this game, it feels really good to punch dudes. The encounters can be annoying though, mostly if they have guns. The game feels a but unbalanced where if its a one-on-one fight with a brawler only enemy or boss, it's usually easy. However, if its an enemy with a gun it can be very frustrating. That 2nd to last battle was incredibly annoying, but at least the final fight was fun albeit too easy.
I didn't do many side missions but the ones I did were cool. The fixed camera in Kamurocho was kind of cool, made the town more atmospheric. I liked the ps2 feel this game had compared to Judgment or Yakuza 0.
While I cannot say I liked this nearly as much as Judgment or Yakuza 0, I did enjoy my time with it even if it's pretty flawed. If I played it subbed, it might be a 7 idk but with how I played it...I'll give it a 6.5.
I'm pretty excited for Yakuza 2 cuz I heard it improved on a lot of shit in this game and that it's peak.
i'll cut to the chase and spare you some prose and witticisms you'll read either through glazed eyes or gritted teeth: six and a half years ago i was in a real bad way and i wasnt enjoying a single one of my hobbies the way i had used to. i had made plans to try to get into this series from its inciting incident just to have something to do that day, and it was around that time that yakuza 5 was serendipitously announced for localization, an unprecedented miracle that blindsided its then-largely isolationist and niche fanbase. felt like a sign, to me - i was playing this game the very next day, and within four months had completed all hitherto localized titles in the franchise, eagerly anticipating the fifth game. i was having fun with games again.
since then the series has received widespread recognition, often for better or worse (usually for very cynical reasons, attracting a specific kind of crowd that i would like to stay very, very far away from, and yet still needlessly spurring on several inane culture wars because no one knows how to react to media with good sense, tact, or nuance anymore) but im still here playing this franchise for reasons im not sure i'll ever be able to adequately articulate. and despite all this - this is the entry i return to the most. it's a kind of ritual homecoming. certainly, yakuza 2 is the more refined title. it's a successor which embraces its cinematic lineage and nagoshis directorial flavourings; it is pulpy and jettisons any sense of restraint, it sports a combat system arguably better than the roughness of its predecessor, it is more cognizant of how to utilize its living and breathing world and array of denizens to capture the frivolities of the human experience. but it's also the establishment of something formulaic, a pattern. a mold for a franchise aided by the careful supervision of fan-feedback and by the business acumen necessary to pilot an initiative that transformed yakuza into a yearly asset-flip series (this is undoubtedly in addition to a shitton of crunch. there is no doubt in my heart that y2 worked its employees to the bone.)
when so many of yakuza and yakuza 2s strengths in atmosphere and design tend to overlap, it's not hard to see why im kind of enamored with the guts this specific project displayed in a way that yakuza 2 does not. and when looking at the overarching path the series has taken - in which entries felt increasingly hurried and fraught until learning to respect restraint in 0 - this becomes especially clear. it's bold, it's risky - researching it, it becomes clear that it required a lot of attitude, finesse, trust, and collaboration to see a unique vision like this to the end and there are still flashes of that experimental tendency to be found in this specific entry. i love how punishing the games central heat mechanic is because it forces you to expend it desperately which often resulted in greater xp gain, i love how abilities are often tied to exploration, i love the overhead camera angles of this gritty and noirish red light district as opposed to the bog-standard third-person view the rest of the series employs, i love how its heat actions are absolutely brutal but orchestrated around brevity so as not to interrupt the flow of combat (something which later entries completely miss the point of), i love how its perhaps the only yakuza that doesnt necessarily characterize kiryu as a rogue paladin or a saint, i love that the substories are all grunt-work, assisting normal-ass people who often dont have much vested interest in you, the player, or kiryu, the supposed paragon of humanity, i love that there are cursory glances of what the series could have become in its structure had it not been turned into an asset-flip series, hell i even love the awkward english dub which tried to endear itself to the cult of rockstar and GTA. it's not very good, but much of that is attributable to script rewrites and voice acting direction as opposed to the fault of the actors themselves, and even at its very worst it is infinitely preferable to parse when contrasted against some localization decisions in the recent remastered collection which, at least at launch, frustratingly changed instances of dialogue in substories to include insular online lingo as the punchline. these are minimal in number, but they tie into what i stated earlier about how i fear this series is perceived, and it's often not in a very sincere or affectionate way. say what you will about the english dub wherein kiryu uses a slur or two, but he actually sounds like a former gangster, at the very least. keep in mind that i'm more than a little bitter that impassioned fans could not get people to play this series, but a single screenshot of a chicken did, no doubt influencing the direction of marketing, teaching profit-driven suits the value of the snapshot and altering franchise perception for the rest of time.
and while the series has continued to take risks, trying their hands at ideas various other studios would never consider because of RGG Studio's unique developmental approach (spin-offs as experimental grace periods developed for reprieve or to test new technology, each mainline entry's narrative being set in the year in which it was released, a greater than the sum of its parts design approach largely centered around content density), no title has ever been as uncompromising experimental as this one. its janky and its rough, but its unapologetic and totally committed - that's why im such an ardent fan, and probably at least subconsciously why i return every now and again. helps that 'tis the season, and it's a peak christmas game too.
in fact, even with the series transitioning to the turn-based genre, when so much of the post-0 output is so utterly reliant on incessant callbacks and fanservice relating to that one moment the western discovered this franchise existed in 2017, i'd without hesitation wager it still hasn't been anywhere near as risky as the first yakuza!
living with yakuza for as long as i have, learning the ins and outs of its development process, appreciating it from afar and growing to love this specific entry in retrospect has oddly enough honed my creative ability and imbued me with a sharper edge, a specific sense of what endears me to any given work. it's forced me to challenge convention and to be confident in conveying my thought process - to say with defiance that this is what i, singularly, admire and respect about a work. this is undeniably a strange and alienating response to have to a 2005 JRPG brawler laden in machismo, but stranger things have happened. that's the power of art as it relates to the individual, i'd say. goes without saying but if you havent gotten the picture from the tone of this review yet i think kiwami is awful
since then the series has received widespread recognition, often for better or worse (usually for very cynical reasons, attracting a specific kind of crowd that i would like to stay very, very far away from, and yet still needlessly spurring on several inane culture wars because no one knows how to react to media with good sense, tact, or nuance anymore) but im still here playing this franchise for reasons im not sure i'll ever be able to adequately articulate. and despite all this - this is the entry i return to the most. it's a kind of ritual homecoming. certainly, yakuza 2 is the more refined title. it's a successor which embraces its cinematic lineage and nagoshis directorial flavourings; it is pulpy and jettisons any sense of restraint, it sports a combat system arguably better than the roughness of its predecessor, it is more cognizant of how to utilize its living and breathing world and array of denizens to capture the frivolities of the human experience. but it's also the establishment of something formulaic, a pattern. a mold for a franchise aided by the careful supervision of fan-feedback and by the business acumen necessary to pilot an initiative that transformed yakuza into a yearly asset-flip series (this is undoubtedly in addition to a shitton of crunch. there is no doubt in my heart that y2 worked its employees to the bone.)
when so many of yakuza and yakuza 2s strengths in atmosphere and design tend to overlap, it's not hard to see why im kind of enamored with the guts this specific project displayed in a way that yakuza 2 does not. and when looking at the overarching path the series has taken - in which entries felt increasingly hurried and fraught until learning to respect restraint in 0 - this becomes especially clear. it's bold, it's risky - researching it, it becomes clear that it required a lot of attitude, finesse, trust, and collaboration to see a unique vision like this to the end and there are still flashes of that experimental tendency to be found in this specific entry. i love how punishing the games central heat mechanic is because it forces you to expend it desperately which often resulted in greater xp gain, i love how abilities are often tied to exploration, i love the overhead camera angles of this gritty and noirish red light district as opposed to the bog-standard third-person view the rest of the series employs, i love how its heat actions are absolutely brutal but orchestrated around brevity so as not to interrupt the flow of combat (something which later entries completely miss the point of), i love how its perhaps the only yakuza that doesnt necessarily characterize kiryu as a rogue paladin or a saint, i love that the substories are all grunt-work, assisting normal-ass people who often dont have much vested interest in you, the player, or kiryu, the supposed paragon of humanity, i love that there are cursory glances of what the series could have become in its structure had it not been turned into an asset-flip series, hell i even love the awkward english dub which tried to endear itself to the cult of rockstar and GTA. it's not very good, but much of that is attributable to script rewrites and voice acting direction as opposed to the fault of the actors themselves, and even at its very worst it is infinitely preferable to parse when contrasted against some localization decisions in the recent remastered collection which, at least at launch, frustratingly changed instances of dialogue in substories to include insular online lingo as the punchline. these are minimal in number, but they tie into what i stated earlier about how i fear this series is perceived, and it's often not in a very sincere or affectionate way. say what you will about the english dub wherein kiryu uses a slur or two, but he actually sounds like a former gangster, at the very least. keep in mind that i'm more than a little bitter that impassioned fans could not get people to play this series, but a single screenshot of a chicken did, no doubt influencing the direction of marketing, teaching profit-driven suits the value of the snapshot and altering franchise perception for the rest of time.
and while the series has continued to take risks, trying their hands at ideas various other studios would never consider because of RGG Studio's unique developmental approach (spin-offs as experimental grace periods developed for reprieve or to test new technology, each mainline entry's narrative being set in the year in which it was released, a greater than the sum of its parts design approach largely centered around content density), no title has ever been as uncompromising experimental as this one. its janky and its rough, but its unapologetic and totally committed - that's why im such an ardent fan, and probably at least subconsciously why i return every now and again. helps that 'tis the season, and it's a peak christmas game too.
in fact, even with the series transitioning to the turn-based genre, when so much of the post-0 output is so utterly reliant on incessant callbacks and fanservice relating to that one moment the western discovered this franchise existed in 2017, i'd without hesitation wager it still hasn't been anywhere near as risky as the first yakuza!
living with yakuza for as long as i have, learning the ins and outs of its development process, appreciating it from afar and growing to love this specific entry in retrospect has oddly enough honed my creative ability and imbued me with a sharper edge, a specific sense of what endears me to any given work. it's forced me to challenge convention and to be confident in conveying my thought process - to say with defiance that this is what i, singularly, admire and respect about a work. this is undeniably a strange and alienating response to have to a 2005 JRPG brawler laden in machismo, but stranger things have happened. that's the power of art as it relates to the individual, i'd say. goes without saying but if you havent gotten the picture from the tone of this review yet i think kiwami is awful
ROLLING EYES FALL
The original Yakuza is a neat little game with themes about family and not running away from your destiny. It's an often disregarded game by the fanbase, due to many "aged" aspects such as the combat and English dub. Many fans recommended I start with Yakuza 0, but I defied expectations and went with the original, as suggested by my bestie Josh_The_Fourth. That, alongside the recent undub mod that released, gave me the drive to give this series a shot, and I don't regret it one bit.
Yakuza has a pretty cool story that makes the game feel like an interactive crime drama. It's not necessarily a deep plot, but it doesn't need to be. The story still supplies plenty of plot twists along the way, and has a great message about family, one of the best examples being Date's character arc. Being paced rather well, I was constantly on my toes wanting to see what happened next, even a few scenes towards the end really pulled my heartstrings. It also helps that the voice acting I picked is really good, I don't know a lick of Japanese but every emotion is conveyed in such a great way. I especially have to give props to Kiryu's voice actor, who is a character you'd think is the generic tough guy protagonist, but he really has a soft side, and his deliveries are fantastic. Once again, while not entirely deep, I love Yakuza's plot and characters.
The combat is always the biggest complaint against Yakuza 1, and I won't defend it entirely to be honest. There's alot of clunk, the lock on sucks, and at times it can be repetitive. However... damnit this combat is just so goofy and kinetic! I love just wiping the floor with petty yakuzas who are just out for my wallet, especially when seeing the pretty hard hitting heat attacks. Enemies with guns are honestly the worst, and in my opinion the lowest point for enemy variety in this game. The bosses aren't necessarily fantastic, but the Majima fights and the final boss are actually kinda great!
Man, this game's atmosphere and presentation though. Kamurocho is a very small hub world overall, but the amount of detail and, dare I say SOUL, is amazing. The fixed cameras of the city help accentuate the scale and detail the city contains, becoming one of the most visually striking games I've seen from the PS2. The cutscenes are well directed with good quality models and animations to accompany the important moments you'll be viewing. Lastly, the soundtrack for this game I adore. It's a rather small ost overall, but damn when music IS playing it absolutely goes hard, especially the battle themes. The emphasis on hard rock and electronica(?) just evokes such a cool feeling that sends me straight back to the 2000's (in a good way.)
Yakuza is definitely a flawed experience, but I had a blast playing this. I've known about the series for nearly 2 years now, but I just never bothered playing them. And now here we are, and I am in love. Can I recommend the original Yakuza? That is a hard question. If you play exclusively modern games, I probably can't, but if you can step out of that comfort zone maybe you'll have something to like! Luckily Yakuza isn't a terribly long game (I finished it with 12 hours of play time), nor is it very difficult with a few exceptions.
Overall, I give this game a nine out of TEN YEARS IN THE JOINT MADE YOU A F-
The original Yakuza is a neat little game with themes about family and not running away from your destiny. It's an often disregarded game by the fanbase, due to many "aged" aspects such as the combat and English dub. Many fans recommended I start with Yakuza 0, but I defied expectations and went with the original, as suggested by my bestie Josh_The_Fourth. That, alongside the recent undub mod that released, gave me the drive to give this series a shot, and I don't regret it one bit.
Yakuza has a pretty cool story that makes the game feel like an interactive crime drama. It's not necessarily a deep plot, but it doesn't need to be. The story still supplies plenty of plot twists along the way, and has a great message about family, one of the best examples being Date's character arc. Being paced rather well, I was constantly on my toes wanting to see what happened next, even a few scenes towards the end really pulled my heartstrings. It also helps that the voice acting I picked is really good, I don't know a lick of Japanese but every emotion is conveyed in such a great way. I especially have to give props to Kiryu's voice actor, who is a character you'd think is the generic tough guy protagonist, but he really has a soft side, and his deliveries are fantastic. Once again, while not entirely deep, I love Yakuza's plot and characters.
The combat is always the biggest complaint against Yakuza 1, and I won't defend it entirely to be honest. There's alot of clunk, the lock on sucks, and at times it can be repetitive. However... damnit this combat is just so goofy and kinetic! I love just wiping the floor with petty yakuzas who are just out for my wallet, especially when seeing the pretty hard hitting heat attacks. Enemies with guns are honestly the worst, and in my opinion the lowest point for enemy variety in this game. The bosses aren't necessarily fantastic, but the Majima fights and the final boss are actually kinda great!
Man, this game's atmosphere and presentation though. Kamurocho is a very small hub world overall, but the amount of detail and, dare I say SOUL, is amazing. The fixed cameras of the city help accentuate the scale and detail the city contains, becoming one of the most visually striking games I've seen from the PS2. The cutscenes are well directed with good quality models and animations to accompany the important moments you'll be viewing. Lastly, the soundtrack for this game I adore. It's a rather small ost overall, but damn when music IS playing it absolutely goes hard, especially the battle themes. The emphasis on hard rock and electronica(?) just evokes such a cool feeling that sends me straight back to the 2000's (in a good way.)
Yakuza is definitely a flawed experience, but I had a blast playing this. I've known about the series for nearly 2 years now, but I just never bothered playing them. And now here we are, and I am in love. Can I recommend the original Yakuza? That is a hard question. If you play exclusively modern games, I probably can't, but if you can step out of that comfort zone maybe you'll have something to like! Luckily Yakuza isn't a terribly long game (I finished it with 12 hours of play time), nor is it very difficult with a few exceptions.
Overall, I give this game a nine out of TEN YEARS IN THE JOINT MADE YOU A F-
TO LIVE IS TO NOT RUN AWAY
After I finished Like A Dragon, I got a sort of motivation to go through the rest of the Yakuza series. I decided to go with the release order, since that would give me the clearest perspective of the progression of the series, and it's a viewpoint I feel that I rarely ever see with Yakuza. This does mean that I'll have a hiatus my playthroughs for a while, since I don't have the remasters of 3-5. Even so, I'm interested in tackling this series I've heard so much about, and this one made a pretty strong impression.
The way I see it, Yakuza is the DMC1 of the franchise. It clearly shows a very early foundation of the franchise, but still feels like it has a unique flair from the games that followed it. Despite this, it doesn't look like this game gets nearly as much respect as that one does. I feel like this is because of Kiwami and how it ties things closer to 0, leading to most people saying "just play Kiwami". (I've had multiple people say that to me.) While I do have a bit of an urge to get on my soapbox and talk about how I despise this mentality, it's something that can wait for another time. For now, I just want to talk about my general thoughts on the game.
The biggest thing I want to start off with is its aesthetics. Kamurocho looks absolutely amazing in this game. The brightly-lit city is especially beautiful at nighttime. It's one of the most gorgeous environments I've seen on the PS2. This is the only game in the series(to my knowledge) that sticks with fixed camera angles, and they're used to great effect in making every area feel distinct. The atmosphere it creates with the bustling city noises and the occasional low-key music especially stands out. I haven't gotten quite this feeling from Like A Dragon and the bits of 0 that I've played, I can't stress enough how much this adds to the experience.
The gameplay is some fairly simple beat-em-up style combat, but I think it has a few elements that make it fairly interesting. The one that stood out to me the most was the heat gauge, where keeping up consistently good performance in battle rewarded you with passive buffs and the ability to do satisfying heat moves. I really like this system, it's sort of like DMC's style meter in terms of how it encourages keeping up momentum in combat, though to a similar effect. It's hardly a perfect combat system, though. My big issue is with how Kiryu can't turn at all when he's in the middle of a combo. Turning around in general when enemies are on you is a bit of a hassle. I'd complain about some other experiences, but I'm going to be more lenient since they probably had something to do with PCSX2's awful input delay. Despite that, I felt that successful combat encounters were really satisfying.
Combat is at its best with bosses, 1-on-1 encounters especially. They usually do a really good job at testing your abilities without being irritating with how much they bombard you with things to get past. My favorite boss in the game was easily Majima, his swift movement made it a very careful game of bait-and-punish approaches that constantly had me watching his next move. I hope to fight him more often in games moving forward, I think he'd be super fun with later gameplay tweaks.
The last thing I want to go over is the game's story. I bet I hardly have the most in-depth reading out there, but I found the throughline of people trying to run away from their pasts or relationships, or learning to move forward to be engaging in how it was portrayed through the different characters. Nishiki was the most stand-out portrayal of this, but I also saw a bit of that in the character of Detective Date, and how he was a deadbeat for most of his daughter's life. It has a strong message of facing your problems head on and forging your own destiny. This is the resolution that Kiryu is led to by the end of the game, after the suffering he constantly went through throughout the latter half of the game.
Oh yeah, I haven't really talked about Kiryu that much. I was a bit worried that he'd just stick with me as a usual stoic protagonist, but I think by the time his relationships with Haruka and Nishiki were developed, he became incredibly compelling to follow. I especially like how he ties into the core theme I described earlier. He feels he won't be able to live down the stigma from the killing that sent him to prison for 10 years, he lost many people close to him over the course of the game, but he still finds a resolve to keep moving forward. I find that kind of inspiring in a way.
I'm really glad I decided to play this one to the end first out of all the beat-em-up entries. It gave me a clear perspective on the roots of the series, provided me with something fairly special, and got me excited to pursue the franchise going forward. Finishing this series is for sure going to be one of my goals for 2022.
EDIT NOTE: I didn't have a point to say this but I'd mainly recommend playing through this if you have a strong tolerance for bad english dubs. It's far from the worst I've heard, but there's many moments of bad line delivery where I can see someone being completely taken out of the experience thanks to them.
After I finished Like A Dragon, I got a sort of motivation to go through the rest of the Yakuza series. I decided to go with the release order, since that would give me the clearest perspective of the progression of the series, and it's a viewpoint I feel that I rarely ever see with Yakuza. This does mean that I'll have a hiatus my playthroughs for a while, since I don't have the remasters of 3-5. Even so, I'm interested in tackling this series I've heard so much about, and this one made a pretty strong impression.
The way I see it, Yakuza is the DMC1 of the franchise. It clearly shows a very early foundation of the franchise, but still feels like it has a unique flair from the games that followed it. Despite this, it doesn't look like this game gets nearly as much respect as that one does. I feel like this is because of Kiwami and how it ties things closer to 0, leading to most people saying "just play Kiwami". (I've had multiple people say that to me.) While I do have a bit of an urge to get on my soapbox and talk about how I despise this mentality, it's something that can wait for another time. For now, I just want to talk about my general thoughts on the game.
The biggest thing I want to start off with is its aesthetics. Kamurocho looks absolutely amazing in this game. The brightly-lit city is especially beautiful at nighttime. It's one of the most gorgeous environments I've seen on the PS2. This is the only game in the series(to my knowledge) that sticks with fixed camera angles, and they're used to great effect in making every area feel distinct. The atmosphere it creates with the bustling city noises and the occasional low-key music especially stands out. I haven't gotten quite this feeling from Like A Dragon and the bits of 0 that I've played, I can't stress enough how much this adds to the experience.
The gameplay is some fairly simple beat-em-up style combat, but I think it has a few elements that make it fairly interesting. The one that stood out to me the most was the heat gauge, where keeping up consistently good performance in battle rewarded you with passive buffs and the ability to do satisfying heat moves. I really like this system, it's sort of like DMC's style meter in terms of how it encourages keeping up momentum in combat, though to a similar effect. It's hardly a perfect combat system, though. My big issue is with how Kiryu can't turn at all when he's in the middle of a combo. Turning around in general when enemies are on you is a bit of a hassle. I'd complain about some other experiences, but I'm going to be more lenient since they probably had something to do with PCSX2's awful input delay. Despite that, I felt that successful combat encounters were really satisfying.
Combat is at its best with bosses, 1-on-1 encounters especially. They usually do a really good job at testing your abilities without being irritating with how much they bombard you with things to get past. My favorite boss in the game was easily Majima, his swift movement made it a very careful game of bait-and-punish approaches that constantly had me watching his next move. I hope to fight him more often in games moving forward, I think he'd be super fun with later gameplay tweaks.
The last thing I want to go over is the game's story. I bet I hardly have the most in-depth reading out there, but I found the throughline of people trying to run away from their pasts or relationships, or learning to move forward to be engaging in how it was portrayed through the different characters. Nishiki was the most stand-out portrayal of this, but I also saw a bit of that in the character of Detective Date, and how he was a deadbeat for most of his daughter's life. It has a strong message of facing your problems head on and forging your own destiny. This is the resolution that Kiryu is led to by the end of the game, after the suffering he constantly went through throughout the latter half of the game.
Oh yeah, I haven't really talked about Kiryu that much. I was a bit worried that he'd just stick with me as a usual stoic protagonist, but I think by the time his relationships with Haruka and Nishiki were developed, he became incredibly compelling to follow. I especially like how he ties into the core theme I described earlier. He feels he won't be able to live down the stigma from the killing that sent him to prison for 10 years, he lost many people close to him over the course of the game, but he still finds a resolve to keep moving forward. I find that kind of inspiring in a way.
I'm really glad I decided to play this one to the end first out of all the beat-em-up entries. It gave me a clear perspective on the roots of the series, provided me with something fairly special, and got me excited to pursue the franchise going forward. Finishing this series is for sure going to be one of my goals for 2022.
EDIT NOTE: I didn't have a point to say this but I'd mainly recommend playing through this if you have a strong tolerance for bad english dubs. It's far from the worst I've heard, but there's many moments of bad line delivery where I can see someone being completely taken out of the experience thanks to them.
(Played with the Yakuza Restoration patch)
I decided to start with the first Ryu Ga Gotoku game on PS2 instead of starting with 0 like everyone else, for the sake of seeing how the gameplay evolves with each entry. I have to say, this isn't a bad introduction to the franchise.
Say what you will about the gameplay, but if you put all of that aside, you're left with an interesting crime drama about the lengths people go to for power, and how it affects the world around them.
I found it hard to care for some aspects of the story such as Nishikiyama and Kiryu's relationship because of the little screentime they had together, along with the deaths that are only there for shock value, but I couldn't help but get invested thanks to the story revolving around Haruka's value. If it weren't for her inclusion, I wouldn't have been as invested. I also appreciate the side characters like Makoto Date and Goro Majima for having their own fun relationships with Kiryu. Date is an intelligent detective who was willing to help Kiryu with his problems despite him being an ex-yakuza, and Majima is just batshit insane.
Of course, since this is the first game in the series, things are going to be rough around the edges. I've had some gripes with the combat being a little bit stiff, and the camera being uncooperative at times, but it's not as horrible as some people make it out to be. You should breeze through everything so long as you manage your healing items carefully and learn extra moves (which shouldn't be optional in the first place) from Komaki. I think the only real problems are how unreactable the QTEs are, the groups of enemies constantly pouncing on you, and how annoying it is to fight gun-wielding mooks—especially that one boss I nearly died to. How was I supposed to know where to get a bulletproof vest?
One last thing I want to appreciate is the general aesthetic of the game. The graphics aren't on par with the things we have today but it's not bad by any means. The lighting is great, alongside the characters looking realistic and expressive. Kamurocho's nighttime strolls full of civilians walking around, gangsters lurking, and interesting landmarks are quite immersive and makes the world feel like it's truly lived in. The soundtrack also has this grungy 2000's feel that I think is awesome, and it's also one of the reasons why I played this over Kiwami. That OST just doesn't hit the same.
Overall, I think the game is good, but flawed in most areas. I think this is a valid starting point if you've got an available way to play PS2 games. But I feel like I have to start BEGGING you not to play the original English version, because the dub is terrible and a lot of dialogue is butchered (or in some cases, enhanced) by gratuitous swearing. Or suit your fucking self and play it anyway. I'm not your fucking dad, motherfucker.
I decided to start with the first Ryu Ga Gotoku game on PS2 instead of starting with 0 like everyone else, for the sake of seeing how the gameplay evolves with each entry. I have to say, this isn't a bad introduction to the franchise.
Say what you will about the gameplay, but if you put all of that aside, you're left with an interesting crime drama about the lengths people go to for power, and how it affects the world around them.
I found it hard to care for some aspects of the story such as Nishikiyama and Kiryu's relationship because of the little screentime they had together, along with the deaths that are only there for shock value, but I couldn't help but get invested thanks to the story revolving around Haruka's value. If it weren't for her inclusion, I wouldn't have been as invested. I also appreciate the side characters like Makoto Date and Goro Majima for having their own fun relationships with Kiryu. Date is an intelligent detective who was willing to help Kiryu with his problems despite him being an ex-yakuza, and Majima is just batshit insane.
Of course, since this is the first game in the series, things are going to be rough around the edges. I've had some gripes with the combat being a little bit stiff, and the camera being uncooperative at times, but it's not as horrible as some people make it out to be. You should breeze through everything so long as you manage your healing items carefully and learn extra moves (which shouldn't be optional in the first place) from Komaki. I think the only real problems are how unreactable the QTEs are, the groups of enemies constantly pouncing on you, and how annoying it is to fight gun-wielding mooks—especially that one boss I nearly died to. How was I supposed to know where to get a bulletproof vest?
One last thing I want to appreciate is the general aesthetic of the game. The graphics aren't on par with the things we have today but it's not bad by any means. The lighting is great, alongside the characters looking realistic and expressive. Kamurocho's nighttime strolls full of civilians walking around, gangsters lurking, and interesting landmarks are quite immersive and makes the world feel like it's truly lived in. The soundtrack also has this grungy 2000's feel that I think is awesome, and it's also one of the reasons why I played this over Kiwami. That OST just doesn't hit the same.
Overall, I think the game is good, but flawed in most areas. I think this is a valid starting point if you've got an available way to play PS2 games. But I feel like I have to start BEGGING you not to play the original English version, because the dub is terrible and a lot of dialogue is butchered (or in some cases, enhanced) by gratuitous swearing. Or suit your fucking self and play it anyway. I'm not your fucking dad, motherfucker.
I've started playing Yakuza 0 as of late, and while that's all fine and dandy, it's not the only Yakuza game that's been on my mind currently, and of course I'm alluding to the original title, this one. In fact, this game in specific has refused to leave my headspace ever since I initially played it back in July.
Whether it be a relisten to the soundtrack, shilling this game to my friends, reading or watching reviews, I somehow just cannot get enough of Yakuza 1. The aesthetics of PS2 Kamurocho, thriving with atmosphere. The amazing depiction of the city showing the dirty underbelly of the streets, containing drunkards, the homeless, and of course yakuza. That reverb drum beat sound upon entering a battle as those head bumping, sample heavy tunes begin to intensify, getting your blood pumping. Impactful and crunchy sounds blare out of the speakers as the quick, but brutal heat action animations flash onscreen in your fight for survival. Taking a breather in an almost Resident Evil type save room, organizing your inventory and slowly healing. knowing that in this moment you're safe from the brutality of the yakuza world.
Accompanied by the somewhat slow at times but immersive exploration and combat segments you invest into the city of Kamurocho, chock full of secrets, personality, alleyways, and stores. Maybe take a moment off-course from your main quest and do a substory, many of which have fully animated and voiced cutscenes. Every single pixel of Yakuza is seeping with detail and ambition, and despite being a rather short game, feels like a complete experience.
Even four games later, I still can't let go of Yakuza. While I do agree with the general sentiment that Yakuza 2 is the better game, and hell it's my favorite over this one, but the original has always left me wanting to return back to it someday, and I plan on letting that happen again. If you couldn't tell by now, I sort of consider both Yakuza 1 and 2 some of my favorite pieces of media ever, and I doubt that could ever change. These two games get dismissed by people so frequently despite their great qualities, and I feel it's about time that they get the recognition they deserve.
Whether it be a relisten to the soundtrack, shilling this game to my friends, reading or watching reviews, I somehow just cannot get enough of Yakuza 1. The aesthetics of PS2 Kamurocho, thriving with atmosphere. The amazing depiction of the city showing the dirty underbelly of the streets, containing drunkards, the homeless, and of course yakuza. That reverb drum beat sound upon entering a battle as those head bumping, sample heavy tunes begin to intensify, getting your blood pumping. Impactful and crunchy sounds blare out of the speakers as the quick, but brutal heat action animations flash onscreen in your fight for survival. Taking a breather in an almost Resident Evil type save room, organizing your inventory and slowly healing. knowing that in this moment you're safe from the brutality of the yakuza world.
Accompanied by the somewhat slow at times but immersive exploration and combat segments you invest into the city of Kamurocho, chock full of secrets, personality, alleyways, and stores. Maybe take a moment off-course from your main quest and do a substory, many of which have fully animated and voiced cutscenes. Every single pixel of Yakuza is seeping with detail and ambition, and despite being a rather short game, feels like a complete experience.
Even four games later, I still can't let go of Yakuza. While I do agree with the general sentiment that Yakuza 2 is the better game, and hell it's my favorite over this one, but the original has always left me wanting to return back to it someday, and I plan on letting that happen again. If you couldn't tell by now, I sort of consider both Yakuza 1 and 2 some of my favorite pieces of media ever, and I doubt that could ever change. These two games get dismissed by people so frequently despite their great qualities, and I feel it's about time that they get the recognition they deserve.
the streets are soaked in melodrama. To Live Is To Not Run Away. hell yes brother.
see, what sega did here was basically update kunio-kun for 3D because nobody else was gonna do it, and god bless em for it because this game rocks. a game from the golden era of open worlds, with a razor-sharp sense of scope and locations only as detailed as they needed to be for 480i.
yakuza opens with a sleek, stylish and totally unique sega logo, and from that point the presentation never lets up. the opening song "recieve you" instantly sets the tone, and the soundtrack as a whole consists of tasteful funk-rock and alt-metal motifs alongside some brilliant sampling work. visually, the game's a killer too. city streets are adorned with gorgeous baked lighting, and the fixed camera angles paint beautiful portraits of the night life. UI elements are given a clean modern look that reflect kiryu's stoic yet transparent personality. good shit.
storytelling as always is something i'll have trouble articulating my thoughts on but i enjoyed how soapy this was. i could see the big twist coming from 200 miles away but it didn't matter to me. the game successfully makes you care about haruka and yumi and nishiki and everyone else and that's all i can ask for. the notorious voice acting in all fairness WAS pretty bad (save for mark hamill as majima; what an inspired casting!!!) but it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story in any way. i am also soooo glad this one doesn't have that many substories... not looking forward to the RGG games that mainly consist of those.
the traversal and exploration is very understated though i found it incredibly novel here. kamurocho, being only one district of tokyo, makes for a very small "open world" but one i adore. this is the only game to recreate the feeling of finding a shop/restaurant in your hometown you never knew about, and that rules to me. lots of fun stuff tucked into every corner, like the arms dealer hidden inside a porno dvd shop.
the combat to my surprise was mostly very fun! crowd control is very tough early on, but once you get more upgrades it becomes a fun puzzle to solve for each encounter. keeping the heat gauge up is tricky but it's also incredibly rewarding. almost all good but my two main complaints lie here: most weapons are useless, and turning around is needlessly difficult. you learn to work around these issues but "work around" is the right term here unfortunately.
in the end i'm glad i chose to play this after 2 hours of kiwami left me disappointed years ago. yakuza 1 kicks major ass and part of that is due to how streamlined it feels. that sense of scope i mentioned earlier is there, but it never feels overwhelming. never trust a remake, kids.
(late review, this took me a while to write)
see, what sega did here was basically update kunio-kun for 3D because nobody else was gonna do it, and god bless em for it because this game rocks. a game from the golden era of open worlds, with a razor-sharp sense of scope and locations only as detailed as they needed to be for 480i.
yakuza opens with a sleek, stylish and totally unique sega logo, and from that point the presentation never lets up. the opening song "recieve you" instantly sets the tone, and the soundtrack as a whole consists of tasteful funk-rock and alt-metal motifs alongside some brilliant sampling work. visually, the game's a killer too. city streets are adorned with gorgeous baked lighting, and the fixed camera angles paint beautiful portraits of the night life. UI elements are given a clean modern look that reflect kiryu's stoic yet transparent personality. good shit.
storytelling as always is something i'll have trouble articulating my thoughts on but i enjoyed how soapy this was. i could see the big twist coming from 200 miles away but it didn't matter to me. the game successfully makes you care about haruka and yumi and nishiki and everyone else and that's all i can ask for. the notorious voice acting in all fairness WAS pretty bad (save for mark hamill as majima; what an inspired casting!!!) but it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story in any way. i am also soooo glad this one doesn't have that many substories... not looking forward to the RGG games that mainly consist of those.
the traversal and exploration is very understated though i found it incredibly novel here. kamurocho, being only one district of tokyo, makes for a very small "open world" but one i adore. this is the only game to recreate the feeling of finding a shop/restaurant in your hometown you never knew about, and that rules to me. lots of fun stuff tucked into every corner, like the arms dealer hidden inside a porno dvd shop.
the combat to my surprise was mostly very fun! crowd control is very tough early on, but once you get more upgrades it becomes a fun puzzle to solve for each encounter. keeping the heat gauge up is tricky but it's also incredibly rewarding. almost all good but my two main complaints lie here: most weapons are useless, and turning around is needlessly difficult. you learn to work around these issues but "work around" is the right term here unfortunately.
in the end i'm glad i chose to play this after 2 hours of kiwami left me disappointed years ago. yakuza 1 kicks major ass and part of that is due to how streamlined it feels. that sense of scope i mentioned earlier is there, but it never feels overwhelming. never trust a remake, kids.
(late review, this took me a while to write)
After not touching the series for over a year, stomping through good ol' Kamurocho just felt right. It's especially appropriate to do so with the first ever title in the franchise. As a veteran of the series, it's striking just how many things the team got right on their first try. Kiryu's style is here in its most basic form, yet extremely satisfying, despite the jankiness, some of which not even the later titles managed to shed. Most importantly, the series' heart is here, its lust for life and joy of new experiences already present.
It's not flawless, as noted with the not-so-stellar combat, the english dub adds a b-movie feel (charm, even?) which often takes out of the scene; in Nishiki's case it tackles you from the top of the Millennium Tower straight into Gachimuchi. The "Ten years in the joint made you a fucking pussy" line is delivered with a tone not too dissimilar to what you might hear on an adult video.
That said, I cannot be mad at this game. Despite its hiccups it's elevated in many regards. The essence of the city, the people who inhabit it, their lives, their tribulations and triumphs, the music that fills your ears whenever a fight breaks out, and the heartful story: that of a man of two halves, ruthless gangster and kind soul, a chimera who has to fight harder than everyone to get what he wants, ending up with a bittersweet taste in his mouth when everything's done.
Any Yakuza/RGG fan owes it to themselves to play the original, especially now that the Yakuza: Restored project is complete. The series was just as soulful in 2005 as it is today; go see for yourself. As the game would say: have no regrets!
It's not flawless, as noted with the not-so-stellar combat, the english dub adds a b-movie feel (charm, even?) which often takes out of the scene; in Nishiki's case it tackles you from the top of the Millennium Tower straight into Gachimuchi. The "Ten years in the joint made you a fucking pussy" line is delivered with a tone not too dissimilar to what you might hear on an adult video.
That said, I cannot be mad at this game. Despite its hiccups it's elevated in many regards. The essence of the city, the people who inhabit it, their lives, their tribulations and triumphs, the music that fills your ears whenever a fight breaks out, and the heartful story: that of a man of two halves, ruthless gangster and kind soul, a chimera who has to fight harder than everyone to get what he wants, ending up with a bittersweet taste in his mouth when everything's done.
Any Yakuza/RGG fan owes it to themselves to play the original, especially now that the Yakuza: Restored project is complete. The series was just as soulful in 2005 as it is today; go see for yourself. As the game would say: have no regrets!
I really hate this mindset that preferring the original Yakuza 1 and 2 over the Kiwami remakes is nothing but elitism.
I started playing this franchise when 0 came to PC in 2018. Even with that, I still prefer these versions of the games. These games have a unique grit to them that the Kiwami games do not capture well at all. For Kiwami 1 in particular, it feels more like 0 but worse and with less content more than a remake of this game. Worst part is that Sega is actively treating the Kiwami games as replacements instead of alternatives.
In terms of the game itself I think it mostly holds up well. Even without the ability to change the directions of combos it does not take long to get used to. Story is still entertaining with my only issue being Nishiki's sudden betrayal (the one thing Kiwami objectively did better).
If you can I do recommend starting with this game and the OG Yakuza 2 and go from release order from there, and playing 0 in between 5 and 6. You'll appreciate how the series naturally grows instead of starting with 0 (which is the best game in the series) then following up with the Kiwami games.
I started playing this franchise when 0 came to PC in 2018. Even with that, I still prefer these versions of the games. These games have a unique grit to them that the Kiwami games do not capture well at all. For Kiwami 1 in particular, it feels more like 0 but worse and with less content more than a remake of this game. Worst part is that Sega is actively treating the Kiwami games as replacements instead of alternatives.
In terms of the game itself I think it mostly holds up well. Even without the ability to change the directions of combos it does not take long to get used to. Story is still entertaining with my only issue being Nishiki's sudden betrayal (the one thing Kiwami objectively did better).
If you can I do recommend starting with this game and the OG Yakuza 2 and go from release order from there, and playing 0 in between 5 and 6. You'll appreciate how the series naturally grows instead of starting with 0 (which is the best game in the series) then following up with the Kiwami games.
FUCKING MOTHERFUCKER
THIS GAME FUCKING ROCKS COCK MOTHERFUCKER
MOTHERFUCKER
THIS GAME FUCKING ROCKS COCK MOTHERFUCKER
MOTHERFUCKER
I played this game in Japanese with the PS3 HD Remaster and its pretty dang solid. Its got a great aesthetic and the story is tight, probably the easiest to follow in the series while still being interesting. The side content that this series is known for is only here in small servings, and the substories are few and tend to be pretty dramatic, which is both an upside and a downside. This is the Yakuza game with the worst combat, but Kiryu's moveset still feels pretty good and you can absolutely tear through enemies if you know what you're doing. Overall there are reasons to like the original more than its much meatier remake, but I think both have their advantages. Glad I played this, and I will be hopping on 2 at some point.
Joguei com o Patch Restored no emulador, restaurando a dublagem original e corrigindo algumas questões de tradução.
Como joguei o remake primeiro, vou tá levando muito em consideração a comparação aqui. Acho que o Kiwami consegue fazer um ótimo trabalho de atualizar a gameplay e a narrativa pra algo que conhecemos nos jogos mais recentes, e ainda tenho uma preferência pelo remake, considerando o combate do original, que da metade pra frente(treinando com o Komaki) consegue se segurar bem, mas ainda tem seus problemas, e a exploração por Kamurocho, que aqui é o que mais peca, pela lerdeza e os encontros com inimigos apresentando loadings chatos e demorados. De resto, acredito que o jogo original é artisticamente melhor em alguns quesitos, considerando toda a ambientação de Kamurocho, pasmem, os personagens possuem expressões faciais melhores num jogo de PS2!😱 e a trilha sonora é MUITO melhor. Então assim, claro, a lerdeza, os loadings, o Kiryu socando o nada, são pontos que não envelheceram bem, acho que tanto esse quanto o remake são ótimos jogos, e mesmo cada um com seus problemas, ambos são experiências que não se excluem, vale muito a pena dar uma chance pra Yakuza de PS2.
Como joguei o remake primeiro, vou tá levando muito em consideração a comparação aqui. Acho que o Kiwami consegue fazer um ótimo trabalho de atualizar a gameplay e a narrativa pra algo que conhecemos nos jogos mais recentes, e ainda tenho uma preferência pelo remake, considerando o combate do original, que da metade pra frente(treinando com o Komaki) consegue se segurar bem, mas ainda tem seus problemas, e a exploração por Kamurocho, que aqui é o que mais peca, pela lerdeza e os encontros com inimigos apresentando loadings chatos e demorados. De resto, acredito que o jogo original é artisticamente melhor em alguns quesitos, considerando toda a ambientação de Kamurocho, pasmem, os personagens possuem expressões faciais melhores num jogo de PS2!😱 e a trilha sonora é MUITO melhor. Então assim, claro, a lerdeza, os loadings, o Kiryu socando o nada, são pontos que não envelheceram bem, acho que tanto esse quanto o remake são ótimos jogos, e mesmo cada um com seus problemas, ambos são experiências que não se excluem, vale muito a pena dar uma chance pra Yakuza de PS2.
It is pretty crazy how someway I managed to playthrough Zero without even knowing anything about Yakuza Kiwami/1 which was kinda cool how I got to experience it that way. However, when I jumped from Zero to Kiwami I felt really strange with it and obviously Zero was the better and more memorable experience. I have always wanted to go back and experience the Original installment that started it all and comparing it to Kiwami it was impressive to see how similar it was to Kiwami and the other games even to this day. Truly it felt ahead of its time and I enjoyed it with the English dub which was kind of bad in a good way. It oozed the PS2 style which I absolutely love with the console and very excited to play so many others from the PS2 library I have not got to yet.! My first time playing a Yakuza game for a second time as well and I enjoyed this one even more and makes me so happy I did manage to get the Kiwami Steelbook as this game made me love this one even more than before and now I need to just check out the Japanese live-action movie! Can't believe how many of the homeless people look like Charles Manson dude, and why is that one street hoodlum wearing a green basketball jersey that says "FART"! So many times I looked for a place for Karaoke, but I guess it's not in the original one. No Baka Mitai for meeee!!
if Nishiki calls me a fucking pussy who am i to say no
Me duele muchísimo no darle una nota perfecta a este juego, ya que narrativamente es uno de los mejores juegos de PS2 que logré probar, con una cinematografía bellisima que plasma casi a la perfección los dramas policiales japoneses, y la forma de sumergirte a su mundo logra que sea un sucesor espiritual digno de Shenmue gracias a los cambios de clima y la absurda cantidad de sidequests que tiene, todas ricas en contenido. Pero el combate llega a ser desprolijo a tal nivel que enfada, muy lento y con movimientos demasiado torpes, y los comandos mas complejos llegan a sufrir de un delay muy irregular que a la larga prefieres no usarlos. Además de esto, cuando se amontonan demasiados enemigos es prácticamente injugable, y ni hablar de los jefes que intercalan entre muy sencillos a super injustos.
Aún así recomiendo que lo prueben, de todas formas es un juego medianamente corto y, tal como Shenmue, llega a prevalecer más la estética de exploración y aventura que una de desafío/acción. Además, por lo que sé, sus secuelas han mejorado muchísimo este último aspecto, asi que a pesar de ser jugablemente torpe empieza muy fuerte en otros aspectos, asi que no veo que sea una perdida de tiempo en ningún sentido.
Aún así recomiendo que lo prueben, de todas formas es un juego medianamente corto y, tal como Shenmue, llega a prevalecer más la estética de exploración y aventura que una de desafío/acción. Además, por lo que sé, sus secuelas han mejorado muchísimo este último aspecto, asi que a pesar de ser jugablemente torpe empieza muy fuerte en otros aspectos, asi que no veo que sea una perdida de tiempo en ningún sentido.
The long drag of a cigarette beneath the city's smog, the urban firmament of glitzy neon signs illuminating a starless sky. Passersby are flagged down by salesmen trying to drag the drunk and the impressionable into hostess clubs, thugs crowd around shady alleyways and dingy dives, an evil eye aimed at any fool too brazen to wander too close. The city is an ecosystem all its own, a interconnected web of the unscrupulous and the downtrodden ensuring an uneasy system of checks and balances. Stand still and you will surely hear its heart beat.
The crowd gathers, and for a brief moment, the underworld deigns to show its belly to the world above. The sound of flesh meeting pavement, of skulls fracturing and limbs breaking, of glass shattering, bullets firing, the wails of a guitar, dirty and unrefined, as overconfident goons and gangsters punch above their weight class attempting to face the dragon as he tosses them aside like litter.
Yakuza is a filthy game, rough and weathered, a stark contrast to the polish of its successors in both sight and sound. It's a raw, intensely atmospheric game full of grungy guitars and rough characters, a game that seems to truly capture the feel of the streets: Quick. Dirty. Brutal, above all else. Without the bombast of microwaving someone's skull or over-the-top action movie antics, we're left with bottles stabbed into eyes, knives jabbed into guts, curb-stomps upon skulls and the desperate wailing of fists, a much more grounded attempt to capture the swift brutality of dirty street brawls.
Yakuza is a tale of blood money, of corruption, ruthlessness and the lingua franca of the fist. A story about the dangers of ambition, the follies of old men and their pride, the glitz and glamor of the criminal underworld, and the fate such a life seals for those who partake in it. The city of Kamurocho is a city that operates on the most primal of rules: Survival of the fittest. It's a city who's history is written in the blood of ruthless and told by those left standing at the end of it all. It's a hotspot for the hedonistic, and the eventual grave of those who've intertwined their fates with the enticing allure of the criminal lifestyle. It's a city with a bloodied history of urban warfare and shady backdoor politics it's waiting to tell.
Will you listen?
The crowd gathers, and for a brief moment, the underworld deigns to show its belly to the world above. The sound of flesh meeting pavement, of skulls fracturing and limbs breaking, of glass shattering, bullets firing, the wails of a guitar, dirty and unrefined, as overconfident goons and gangsters punch above their weight class attempting to face the dragon as he tosses them aside like litter.
Yakuza is a filthy game, rough and weathered, a stark contrast to the polish of its successors in both sight and sound. It's a raw, intensely atmospheric game full of grungy guitars and rough characters, a game that seems to truly capture the feel of the streets: Quick. Dirty. Brutal, above all else. Without the bombast of microwaving someone's skull or over-the-top action movie antics, we're left with bottles stabbed into eyes, knives jabbed into guts, curb-stomps upon skulls and the desperate wailing of fists, a much more grounded attempt to capture the swift brutality of dirty street brawls.
Yakuza is a tale of blood money, of corruption, ruthlessness and the lingua franca of the fist. A story about the dangers of ambition, the follies of old men and their pride, the glitz and glamor of the criminal underworld, and the fate such a life seals for those who partake in it. The city of Kamurocho is a city that operates on the most primal of rules: Survival of the fittest. It's a city who's history is written in the blood of ruthless and told by those left standing at the end of it all. It's a hotspot for the hedonistic, and the eventual grave of those who've intertwined their fates with the enticing allure of the criminal lifestyle. It's a city with a bloodied history of urban warfare and shady backdoor politics it's waiting to tell.
Will you listen?
The "bros before hoes" grindset could have really prevented all of this tbh
the dark and melodramatic streets of kamurocho, contextualized by punctual camera angles, neon signs that dampen dark alleyways, and wacky inhabitants. kamurocho is alive. for every fun filled casino or arcade, an oppressive gang infested street lies just around the corner.
in the week or so since i've finished this game, i haven't stopped thinking about it. the dynamic cast of characters, the aforementioned bustling streets of kamurocho, the hard hitting sample induced rock soundtrack, and the clunky yet earnestly goofy combat; it's extremely honest and heartfelt in pursuit of a crime drama, and it certainly delivers. i think the themes of family bonds really tie everything together. the moments with the florist and his son, or date with his daughter were a bit of a deviation from the main narrative but they were ultimately for the sake of driving a point home, which i respect. yakuza 1 isn't afraid of itself unlike kiwami, it'll confidently present you its themes and gameplay without hesitation. while i do see the combat as inherently flawed it never got on my nerves or hindered my enjoyment of the game. it's clunky for sure but every attack, daft in approach, feels impactful when it connects. and with the backing of rough hardass rock beats mixed with the hip hop sample here and there, i couldn't help but be pumped up for every battle that ensued.
despite its flaws, i still appreciate yakuza 1 for what it sets out to do. the atmosphere is almost unparalleled in the ps2 library. between every freeze frame loading the next street, a sense of curiosity and infatuation follows. i don't care if kiwami is objectively better or whatever, this is the real yakuza experience to me. kiwami WISHES it could be this genuine.
BRING that shit, Kazuma.
in the week or so since i've finished this game, i haven't stopped thinking about it. the dynamic cast of characters, the aforementioned bustling streets of kamurocho, the hard hitting sample induced rock soundtrack, and the clunky yet earnestly goofy combat; it's extremely honest and heartfelt in pursuit of a crime drama, and it certainly delivers. i think the themes of family bonds really tie everything together. the moments with the florist and his son, or date with his daughter were a bit of a deviation from the main narrative but they were ultimately for the sake of driving a point home, which i respect. yakuza 1 isn't afraid of itself unlike kiwami, it'll confidently present you its themes and gameplay without hesitation. while i do see the combat as inherently flawed it never got on my nerves or hindered my enjoyment of the game. it's clunky for sure but every attack, daft in approach, feels impactful when it connects. and with the backing of rough hardass rock beats mixed with the hip hop sample here and there, i couldn't help but be pumped up for every battle that ensued.
despite its flaws, i still appreciate yakuza 1 for what it sets out to do. the atmosphere is almost unparalleled in the ps2 library. between every freeze frame loading the next street, a sense of curiosity and infatuation follows. i don't care if kiwami is objectively better or whatever, this is the real yakuza experience to me. kiwami WISHES it could be this genuine.
BRING that shit, Kazuma.
A cold damp wind flows across town, invading the pores of your skin. To walk the streets of Kamurocho is being subjected to a freeze frame every 10 seconds as you move across streets, you will listen to the same whispers on the streets looping in the span of a blink or two. Which is why it speaks volumes that Yakuza is still able to envelop you inside itself; the combination of the thick atmosphere and the blaring soundtrack makes every fight feel like a battle for survival. It’s something that I feel has been lost from this franchise, with only 2018’s Judgement being able to replicate that feeling to some capacity. No doubt a million praises have been sung for this game’s atmosphere but every single positive comment is earned.
This is exactly the reason why every gesture of worship I offer the original Yakuza becomes nothing more than another point in a long list of reasons why I don’t like Yakuza: Kiwami. It’s easy for new fans of the series to look at the remake and make a false assumption that it must be better due to the fact it shares 0’s shiny combat as if the combat of the original game is something broken, something “outdated”. People will throw out the statement that the original’s combat “aged badly” as if it was something that needed to be fixed but actually playing the game it’s laughable at how this couldn’t be further from the truth. Every punch every kick has an oomph to it, and each heavy attack has this satisfying sound when your hits connect; although it’s more a question of if your hits connect because despite crafting up a combat system that’s still very enjoyable, there are inevitably a few shortcomings which hold it back from reaching the heights that it can, although maybe I’m just spoiled by later entries as even Yakuza 2 was a step up in this regard, with every entry after it slowly perfecting the combat, and subsequently elevating the legend of the Dragon of Dojima itself, and that is exactly why Yakuza is a game that shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s easy to look at the bombastic stories of later entries like 0 and think the first game is tame by comparison but what Yakuza lacks in its set pieces, it more than makes up for with a narrative that’s just as enthralling as today as it was in 2005. It’s this game’s very simplicity that raises this entry by a significant margin, it’s a tale about two men who are done running from their problems. This is their destiny, any regrets they carry is baggage that will always weigh them down yet they keep moving onward, they keep moving towards each other. The Koi will shed everything to become the Dragon, even if it means hurting what it once held close. There’s no going back. They can only go forward.
𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗡 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬.
This is exactly the reason why every gesture of worship I offer the original Yakuza becomes nothing more than another point in a long list of reasons why I don’t like Yakuza: Kiwami. It’s easy for new fans of the series to look at the remake and make a false assumption that it must be better due to the fact it shares 0’s shiny combat as if the combat of the original game is something broken, something “outdated”. People will throw out the statement that the original’s combat “aged badly” as if it was something that needed to be fixed but actually playing the game it’s laughable at how this couldn’t be further from the truth. Every punch every kick has an oomph to it, and each heavy attack has this satisfying sound when your hits connect; although it’s more a question of if your hits connect because despite crafting up a combat system that’s still very enjoyable, there are inevitably a few shortcomings which hold it back from reaching the heights that it can, although maybe I’m just spoiled by later entries as even Yakuza 2 was a step up in this regard, with every entry after it slowly perfecting the combat, and subsequently elevating the legend of the Dragon of Dojima itself, and that is exactly why Yakuza is a game that shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s easy to look at the bombastic stories of later entries like 0 and think the first game is tame by comparison but what Yakuza lacks in its set pieces, it more than makes up for with a narrative that’s just as enthralling as today as it was in 2005. It’s this game’s very simplicity that raises this entry by a significant margin, it’s a tale about two men who are done running from their problems. This is their destiny, any regrets they carry is baggage that will always weigh them down yet they keep moving onward, they keep moving towards each other. The Koi will shed everything to become the Dragon, even if it means hurting what it once held close. There’s no going back. They can only go forward.
𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗡 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬.
10 years of modern gaming made you a fucking pussy if this is what you consider "dated"
I can't stand people who say that you should "just play Kiwami man!!!!" Yakuza Kiwami is the original but completely devoid of it's original style and character, entirely upending it with reused assets and a combat system that are lazily lifted from another game released a decade after. It's additions only serve to pad out an otherwise very well-paced game, and they sometimes just straight up take away from specific moments. The original's gritty look is replaced with the same generic look as Yakuza 0 without the late-80s aesthetic that contextualized that game and really held the visuals together. Yakuza Kiwami doesn't even recreate the original, it uses another game's systems and visuals in an attempt to replace it. It is straight up disrespectful to the integrity of the original and 0. People who support lousy games like this need to shut the fuck up. I hate them.
Sorry, not a review, I just needed a place to rant.
Sorry, not a review, I just needed a place to rant.
Every time I think about Yakuza, I see a cinematic angle of Kiryu strutting down the dark, neon-lit streets of Kamurocho in the pouring rain, accompanied by a low-key bassline. It's a striking image that both comforts and inspires me, one that makes up for just about every issue I have with this game's janky combat, insufferable load times, and hilariously ill-advised dub. As an atmospheric piece, Yakuza 1 is truly incredible, and none of the post-PS2 games even come close to its neo-noir feel.
Make no mistake, despite the low score I actually had a great time with the original Yakuza! However, it's also not hard for me to admit the game does kinda suck.
For context, I recently played through Yakuza 0 and absolutely fell in love with it, so I've decided to do a sort of marathon of the series. A friend of mine gifted me a PS2 copy of this along with Yakuza 2 for my birthday. If you're reading this bro, thanks again, man! Sorry if you may not agree with everything I'm about to say though.
I kinda pity those who started with either Zero or Kiwami and didn't like the combat from there, because ho boy, they really don't understand how far the series has come. Combat in this game is kind of a clunker. Kiryu is noticeably slow in this game in both turn-speed and frame-data. When you attack in this game, he will commit to swinging his fists in that direction, but the enemies you encounter are very slow too, so I can't say the game isn't designed around Kiryu's slow moveset. However, the main problem is that Kiryu doesn't have a hard lock-on like in other action games. He has to rely on a soft lock-on that doesn't give an indicator to when it activates and isn't very intelligent, as it will often break mid-combo. Combine that with the uncontrollable camera in battles, battles will often look like drunken fisticuffs where Kiryu clumsily whiffs his fists 40 degrees away from someone right up in his face. This becomes a problem when in the later half of the game you fight crowds of people with bats, swords, or god forbid guns and you get wobbled around in hit stun because your big kick didn't combo properly. Combat is still relatively easy though. Most of the problems Kiryu faces can be solved by hitting square 4x > triangle and it will eat their guards and knock them down most of the time, where you can walk up to them and hit triangle for a heat execution move. This was my end-all-be-all strategy for about 90% of the encounters in the game, which isn't exactly very engaging. By around the halfway point of the game, I would actively try to avoid walking into encounters in Kamurocho (which by the way, the encounter rate is comically high in this game, like Final Fantasy IV bad.) because they weren't exactly pounding my pulses anymore.
Speaking of walking around in Kamurocho, I was surprised to see just how hard they nailed the atmosphere in this game. The streets of Kamurocho are often dark and littered with trash, only brought to life by the illumination of neon signs and dim street lights, and the bustling crowds of noisy people. The fixed camera angles while walking around also make the city seem daunting, as the camera angles often pan above Kiryu to make the city seem larger than he is. It's absolutely fascinating stuff, and you combine that with the side quests you can find while talking to NPCs on the streets (which unfortunately most of them are fetch quests, with a scant few being memorable side stories) you really get the feel Kamurocho is a living, breathing metropolitan, crime-ridden, red-light district.
As for the story, it feels like a great proof of concept. I was surprised to see how briskly paced it all was, baring one chapter which mostly felt like filler. Maybe a little too brisk. I feel the cast of characters introduced here the devs haven't decided what to exactly do with yet, so they end off coming off more like prototypes for the larger narrative than real explored characters yet. One of the few characters that actually do get some scenes of character development outside of Kiryu and Haruka, Detective Date, gets his scenes in the aformeantioned filler chapter. It doesn't tie into the main story at all, but it was also nice to see a side character with his own struggles with the themes of family in this game.
Unfortunately, that may also be because this game has a quite frankly hilarious dub. I miss when Sega was the kings of shitty awkward dubbing, and this game offers plenty of lines that made me burst out laughing. It's still unfortunate because the actual good performances in this game like Mark Hamill as Goro Majima still have to wrestle with the horrid sound mixing. The dub does kinda ruin the mood of some scenes that were genuinely cool, there are still a lot of hype moments in this game that unfortunately get bogged down by bad voice direction or bad sound mixing. Let me share some of my favorite iconically bad lines:
"I did feel the urge to hit some balls today... I suppose yours will have to do"
"Go! Kill this arrogant mo-ther-fuck-er!"
"Women: "Are you fucking [R slur]?" Kiryu: I'm not as stupid as you."
I know this whole review seems kinda negative so far, but I was being genuine when I said I actually still had a great time with Yakuza despite all these flaws. Perhaps it was the brisk flow of the story, the atmosphere, and the discovery of all the little side content within the streets of Kamurocho is that kept me engaged throughout this experience the most. It's rare to see a game attempt to experiment with a bunch of ideas and still come out with something unlike anything back in the day.
The entire experience actually reminded me a lot of when I played Demon's Souls last year. Both games were born from internal company failure and both directors set out to create a new ambitious idea to lay the groundwork of a now iconic series, rising their studios to fame. Both games do feel a tad clunky and maybe less-fleshed out than they should be, but both games still feature experimental mechanics and atmosphere unlike anything else from their respective series. It's special to play a game like that, but I would argue Demon's is a more polished game overall, which is why I've played through that game three times as of writing this.
I'm not sure when I'll return to Yakuza 1, because while I did have my fun with it, I can also see this as a hard game to come back to if the other games deliver as much as people say they do. Yakuza is a beautiful messy blueprint and I'm ready to see how they'll iron out these kinks of this pretty solid game in its sequels.
For context, I recently played through Yakuza 0 and absolutely fell in love with it, so I've decided to do a sort of marathon of the series. A friend of mine gifted me a PS2 copy of this along with Yakuza 2 for my birthday. If you're reading this bro, thanks again, man! Sorry if you may not agree with everything I'm about to say though.
I kinda pity those who started with either Zero or Kiwami and didn't like the combat from there, because ho boy, they really don't understand how far the series has come. Combat in this game is kind of a clunker. Kiryu is noticeably slow in this game in both turn-speed and frame-data. When you attack in this game, he will commit to swinging his fists in that direction, but the enemies you encounter are very slow too, so I can't say the game isn't designed around Kiryu's slow moveset. However, the main problem is that Kiryu doesn't have a hard lock-on like in other action games. He has to rely on a soft lock-on that doesn't give an indicator to when it activates and isn't very intelligent, as it will often break mid-combo. Combine that with the uncontrollable camera in battles, battles will often look like drunken fisticuffs where Kiryu clumsily whiffs his fists 40 degrees away from someone right up in his face. This becomes a problem when in the later half of the game you fight crowds of people with bats, swords, or god forbid guns and you get wobbled around in hit stun because your big kick didn't combo properly. Combat is still relatively easy though. Most of the problems Kiryu faces can be solved by hitting square 4x > triangle and it will eat their guards and knock them down most of the time, where you can walk up to them and hit triangle for a heat execution move. This was my end-all-be-all strategy for about 90% of the encounters in the game, which isn't exactly very engaging. By around the halfway point of the game, I would actively try to avoid walking into encounters in Kamurocho (which by the way, the encounter rate is comically high in this game, like Final Fantasy IV bad.) because they weren't exactly pounding my pulses anymore.
Speaking of walking around in Kamurocho, I was surprised to see just how hard they nailed the atmosphere in this game. The streets of Kamurocho are often dark and littered with trash, only brought to life by the illumination of neon signs and dim street lights, and the bustling crowds of noisy people. The fixed camera angles while walking around also make the city seem daunting, as the camera angles often pan above Kiryu to make the city seem larger than he is. It's absolutely fascinating stuff, and you combine that with the side quests you can find while talking to NPCs on the streets (which unfortunately most of them are fetch quests, with a scant few being memorable side stories) you really get the feel Kamurocho is a living, breathing metropolitan, crime-ridden, red-light district.
As for the story, it feels like a great proof of concept. I was surprised to see how briskly paced it all was, baring one chapter which mostly felt like filler. Maybe a little too brisk. I feel the cast of characters introduced here the devs haven't decided what to exactly do with yet, so they end off coming off more like prototypes for the larger narrative than real explored characters yet. One of the few characters that actually do get some scenes of character development outside of Kiryu and Haruka, Detective Date, gets his scenes in the aformeantioned filler chapter. It doesn't tie into the main story at all, but it was also nice to see a side character with his own struggles with the themes of family in this game.
Unfortunately, that may also be because this game has a quite frankly hilarious dub. I miss when Sega was the kings of shitty awkward dubbing, and this game offers plenty of lines that made me burst out laughing. It's still unfortunate because the actual good performances in this game like Mark Hamill as Goro Majima still have to wrestle with the horrid sound mixing. The dub does kinda ruin the mood of some scenes that were genuinely cool, there are still a lot of hype moments in this game that unfortunately get bogged down by bad voice direction or bad sound mixing. Let me share some of my favorite iconically bad lines:
"I did feel the urge to hit some balls today... I suppose yours will have to do"
"Go! Kill this arrogant mo-ther-fuck-er!"
"Women: "Are you fucking [R slur]?" Kiryu: I'm not as stupid as you."
I know this whole review seems kinda negative so far, but I was being genuine when I said I actually still had a great time with Yakuza despite all these flaws. Perhaps it was the brisk flow of the story, the atmosphere, and the discovery of all the little side content within the streets of Kamurocho is that kept me engaged throughout this experience the most. It's rare to see a game attempt to experiment with a bunch of ideas and still come out with something unlike anything back in the day.
The entire experience actually reminded me a lot of when I played Demon's Souls last year. Both games were born from internal company failure and both directors set out to create a new ambitious idea to lay the groundwork of a now iconic series, rising their studios to fame. Both games do feel a tad clunky and maybe less-fleshed out than they should be, but both games still feature experimental mechanics and atmosphere unlike anything else from their respective series. It's special to play a game like that, but I would argue Demon's is a more polished game overall, which is why I've played through that game three times as of writing this.
I'm not sure when I'll return to Yakuza 1, because while I did have my fun with it, I can also see this as a hard game to come back to if the other games deliver as much as people say they do. Yakuza is a beautiful messy blueprint and I'm ready to see how they'll iron out these kinks of this pretty solid game in its sequels.
I am convinced they used the power of the PS2's emotion engine solely with the intention of crafting Kazuma Kiryu into the most handsome protagonist possible at the time. The rest of the game is just a fun bonus they did in their spare time.
The wonderful Backloggd community threatened - that is to say, heavily suggested - that I play Yakuza PS2 instead of the remake, Kiwami. To that I say, screw it, release order supremacy, I will get around to Kiwami eventually. But of course, that means starting with this, the original PS2 release, and I'm happy to say I quite enjoyed it, in spite of everything.
The story is the main draw of the game - well at least, it sure seems to believe that it's the case - and I found it decent, but not particularly sound. It gets a bit too bogged down with filler early on, and a lot of characters go severely underutilised. Heck, it was to the point I found myself completely forgetting about a lot of them over the course of the game, making any reappearances they may or may not make later on more than a little confusing. The emotional hooks are pretty good, but - without getting into spoiler territory - I think it doesn't resolve the plot threads in satisfying ways, and kind of collapses in on itself by the end. So many issues could have been easily avoided, and certain twists are wholly unnecessary and exist purely for shock value.
Main story aside, a big selling point of the games (mainly through the hype given by the fandom) are the substories, side quests dotted throughout the district of Kamurocho that see Kiryu meet all sorts of weird and wacky people with problems that need solving...actually, in the first game, it's mostly just scam artists and guys who want to beat Kiryu up. They get pretty tedious, and can be annoyingly obscure to even find in the first place, and only a few have particularly likable stories - most are just thinly veiled excuses for an utterly ordinary combat scenario.
As for the combat itself, I found it to actually be pretty fun for the time...but I have to throw a few caveats out with that statement. Firstly, Kiryu's starting moveset is pretty dire. Light attacks and a combo-ending heavy attack, as well as a grab. Landing hits builds Heat, a sort of super-mode that stuns enemies easier and allow for Heat Actions that play a nice, brutal animation and deal massive damage. As you gain experience and level up (choosing which aspect of your abilities you want to prioritise) you gain more moves, and more still through a certain tutor halfway through the game. Once your move repertoire is more fleshed out via these means, the combat becomes bloody fantastic. Throws, backbreaking, dodging, it's incredibly well crafted. Well, with the exception of certain bosses that render a lot of your abilities useless, but they're usually not too bullshit. Usually.
The major flaws in gameplay come from two sources. Firstly, the camera. Bad cameras in 3D games were still a thing even into the PS2 era, and sadly Yakuza is among the offenders. While you can center the camera with L2 to match where Kiryu is facing, it only works when you're not locked into an animation, and won't always be where you really want it to be facing. The major failing there is not mapping camera control to the right analog stick, which is used for....uh...absolutely sod all. Well, it scrolls the minimap: a feature I can say with absolute certainty is completely useless in every concievable way. The full map displays the second you hit Start, so I really don't get why they gave such a feature to the right analog stick instead of camera control. More annoyingly, there's no proper lock-on in the game. Holding down R1 will cause you to begin shifting around the direction you're facing, and will sort of lock on to any enemy you're facing, but if you miss a swing or they get too far out of the way, you're back to swinging at empty air again. Add in the fact combos cannot be cancelled, and you have a recipe for frustration that goes to show that the combat system, while almost there, has serious room for improvement.
I had mentioned how fantastically brutal the combat animations were earlier; that ties in to what I think the strongest element of this game is - the presentation. Kamurocho is a smallish hub world for the game to take place in, but it's amazing how much work was put in to make it feel more alive than any GTA game could boast at the time. Lots of low-poly strangers walking around on-screen, people holding conversations that appear as brief textboxes around the edges of the screen (shoutout to that one woman who still doesn't know where she is from beginning to end), people chasing after you begging you to go to a hostess club, a sizable number of interactable NPCs who's dialogue can change to suit current story events, the place is jam packed on first impressions. Stores sell food and medicine that restores Kiryu's HP and even give a little experience, enough to imply that these beef bowls are physically making him stronger. Arcades are home to those accursed UFO catchers, and they're fully functional! Strip clubs, massage parlours, the extensive hostess mini-stories, it's a game that rewards you for breathing it all in.
This extends to the cutscenes too - the direction and animation is superb, and the voice acting - the proper, Japanese voice acting - sells it very well. Let's not forget the sound design, a very underappreciated aspect of making the big, impact punches actually come across as visceral as they are. For a breakout title that noone but Sony seemed to have any faith in, RGG visibly put all they had into making sure that the game made an impact on audiences, and - at least in Japan - it's clearly paid off.
I deliberately try to avoid giving out 7/10s to games, as it's a very cliché score that is often thrown out as a "it's good, but not fantastic" rating, as opposed to acknowledging it as an 8, or daring to give it a 6. However, I cannot in good conscience give Yakuza a 6 given how much it accomplished of what it has clearly set out to do. That said, the story and gameplay issues hold it back from an 8. So, Yakuza gets the ol' 7/10 - exciting, impressive, but significantly flawed. And let me just say, I cannot wait to see how Yakuza 2 improves on everything.
The wonderful Backloggd community threatened - that is to say, heavily suggested - that I play Yakuza PS2 instead of the remake, Kiwami. To that I say, screw it, release order supremacy, I will get around to Kiwami eventually. But of course, that means starting with this, the original PS2 release, and I'm happy to say I quite enjoyed it, in spite of everything.
The story is the main draw of the game - well at least, it sure seems to believe that it's the case - and I found it decent, but not particularly sound. It gets a bit too bogged down with filler early on, and a lot of characters go severely underutilised. Heck, it was to the point I found myself completely forgetting about a lot of them over the course of the game, making any reappearances they may or may not make later on more than a little confusing. The emotional hooks are pretty good, but - without getting into spoiler territory - I think it doesn't resolve the plot threads in satisfying ways, and kind of collapses in on itself by the end. So many issues could have been easily avoided, and certain twists are wholly unnecessary and exist purely for shock value.
Main story aside, a big selling point of the games (mainly through the hype given by the fandom) are the substories, side quests dotted throughout the district of Kamurocho that see Kiryu meet all sorts of weird and wacky people with problems that need solving...actually, in the first game, it's mostly just scam artists and guys who want to beat Kiryu up. They get pretty tedious, and can be annoyingly obscure to even find in the first place, and only a few have particularly likable stories - most are just thinly veiled excuses for an utterly ordinary combat scenario.
As for the combat itself, I found it to actually be pretty fun for the time...but I have to throw a few caveats out with that statement. Firstly, Kiryu's starting moveset is pretty dire. Light attacks and a combo-ending heavy attack, as well as a grab. Landing hits builds Heat, a sort of super-mode that stuns enemies easier and allow for Heat Actions that play a nice, brutal animation and deal massive damage. As you gain experience and level up (choosing which aspect of your abilities you want to prioritise) you gain more moves, and more still through a certain tutor halfway through the game. Once your move repertoire is more fleshed out via these means, the combat becomes bloody fantastic. Throws, backbreaking, dodging, it's incredibly well crafted. Well, with the exception of certain bosses that render a lot of your abilities useless, but they're usually not too bullshit. Usually.
The major flaws in gameplay come from two sources. Firstly, the camera. Bad cameras in 3D games were still a thing even into the PS2 era, and sadly Yakuza is among the offenders. While you can center the camera with L2 to match where Kiryu is facing, it only works when you're not locked into an animation, and won't always be where you really want it to be facing. The major failing there is not mapping camera control to the right analog stick, which is used for....uh...absolutely sod all. Well, it scrolls the minimap: a feature I can say with absolute certainty is completely useless in every concievable way. The full map displays the second you hit Start, so I really don't get why they gave such a feature to the right analog stick instead of camera control. More annoyingly, there's no proper lock-on in the game. Holding down R1 will cause you to begin shifting around the direction you're facing, and will sort of lock on to any enemy you're facing, but if you miss a swing or they get too far out of the way, you're back to swinging at empty air again. Add in the fact combos cannot be cancelled, and you have a recipe for frustration that goes to show that the combat system, while almost there, has serious room for improvement.
I had mentioned how fantastically brutal the combat animations were earlier; that ties in to what I think the strongest element of this game is - the presentation. Kamurocho is a smallish hub world for the game to take place in, but it's amazing how much work was put in to make it feel more alive than any GTA game could boast at the time. Lots of low-poly strangers walking around on-screen, people holding conversations that appear as brief textboxes around the edges of the screen (shoutout to that one woman who still doesn't know where she is from beginning to end), people chasing after you begging you to go to a hostess club, a sizable number of interactable NPCs who's dialogue can change to suit current story events, the place is jam packed on first impressions. Stores sell food and medicine that restores Kiryu's HP and even give a little experience, enough to imply that these beef bowls are physically making him stronger. Arcades are home to those accursed UFO catchers, and they're fully functional! Strip clubs, massage parlours, the extensive hostess mini-stories, it's a game that rewards you for breathing it all in.
This extends to the cutscenes too - the direction and animation is superb, and the voice acting - the proper, Japanese voice acting - sells it very well. Let's not forget the sound design, a very underappreciated aspect of making the big, impact punches actually come across as visceral as they are. For a breakout title that noone but Sony seemed to have any faith in, RGG visibly put all they had into making sure that the game made an impact on audiences, and - at least in Japan - it's clearly paid off.
I deliberately try to avoid giving out 7/10s to games, as it's a very cliché score that is often thrown out as a "it's good, but not fantastic" rating, as opposed to acknowledging it as an 8, or daring to give it a 6. However, I cannot in good conscience give Yakuza a 6 given how much it accomplished of what it has clearly set out to do. That said, the story and gameplay issues hold it back from an 8. So, Yakuza gets the ol' 7/10 - exciting, impressive, but significantly flawed. And let me just say, I cannot wait to see how Yakuza 2 improves on everything.
It has been almost 4 years since I last played the original Yakuza game, released on the PlayStation 2.
It started a whole series, giving way to not only sequels, but spin-offs, a movie, a TV drama series based on one of the spin-offs, and merch (especially perfumes).
Back in 2020, I had a big Yakuza mood, and I played through 1, 2, 3, Kenzan!, 4 & 5 all in that year.
I haven't played any other Yakuza games since, not just because of the lack of consoles to play them on, but also because after 5, I got a bit burnt-out, and 5 was the biggest Yakuza game yet.
It's been a few years, and I decided to revisit the 1st game in the series, not only to see what I would think of it now, but also because it's gonna be important for my current college thesis.
Yakuza 1, in many aspects, still holds up!
The story is really engaging, and throws you into a big mystery regarding the Tojo Clan, the 10 billion yen surronding it, and the little girl known as Haruka.
It has many twists and turns throughout; some characters even double-crossing, or fuck it, even triple-crossing, playing games with each other.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, but I do believe it is well-written, even with all these twists, each can be something easy to fuck up, but thankfully, it all makes sense by the end, and the character's motivations also make sense.
With that in mind, I feel like I do need to discuss the game's voice acting.
It's no secret to everyone who has heard about this series, that the 1st game was, for the longest time, the only one to ever get an English Dub.
The biggest thing about it, is that they actually got some pretty well-known and talented voice actors in it, ranging from Bill Farmer, Debi Derryberry, Robin Atkin Downes and, of course, Mark Hamill, playing Goro Majima.
The problem is, even if these actors try their best with what they're given, the overall direction feels stitled, and some lines even have slight cuts in the middle of dialogue, or some emotions are not conveyed properly... or fuck, some of them are trying too hard, it seems.
One of the worst examples has got to be Darryl Kurylo as the main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.
Now Kazuma Kiryu is, perhaps, one of the most bad-ass characters in gaming and a total gentlemen, and his original Japanese voice conveys that so well, being voiced by Takaya Kuroda.
But it really seems like, with the direction he was given, Kurylo had a hard time emoting the right amount for many scenes or, and this is most likely a consequence of having to try to lip-sync dialogue properly, he speaks too quickly.
The voice in general is good, and he has some pretty bad-ass lines, but it's clear that the voice direction overall makes the voice acting suffer.
And that's not even to talk about the sometimes excessing swearing the English Dub has, but that didn't really affect me as much. Actually, many times it was understandable, considering the Japanese language barely has swears of the typical type, so with people like the yakuza or punks swearing, it makes sense.
Okay, time to go to the actual gameplay, and... it's fun!
While you're not exploring the red-light district of Kamurocho, you're engaging in battles that function pretty much like a 3D beat'em up, using a combination of punches, kicks, grabs and throws to put your opponents in their place.
It can feel a bit clunky sometimes locking on to the target you want, but after learning some of Komaki's techniques later in the game, you gain more options for crowd control, which is nice.
Outside of that, you can participate in various activities in Kamurocho, such as playing arcade games, gambling in the casino, go to hostess clubs and try to hold a conversation, or simply eat food at a convenience store or a restaurant.
There's plenty of side-missions for you to do too. I didn't engage in all of them, I think I only ended up doing 16, but they were alright, and get you more engaged with the world around you, even if some of them are not very interesting.
The overall presentation of the game is nice. Graphics are nice and detailed, even if some NPCs take a hit in graphical fidelity, and the music is pretty good too, with the main battle theme, Funk Goes On, being one of my favourites.
Overall, while Yakuza 1 does have its share of flaws, I believe it's a good first game in a long-running series, and it holds up pretty well in my eyes.
It started a whole series, giving way to not only sequels, but spin-offs, a movie, a TV drama series based on one of the spin-offs, and merch (especially perfumes).
Back in 2020, I had a big Yakuza mood, and I played through 1, 2, 3, Kenzan!, 4 & 5 all in that year.
I haven't played any other Yakuza games since, not just because of the lack of consoles to play them on, but also because after 5, I got a bit burnt-out, and 5 was the biggest Yakuza game yet.
It's been a few years, and I decided to revisit the 1st game in the series, not only to see what I would think of it now, but also because it's gonna be important for my current college thesis.
Yakuza 1, in many aspects, still holds up!
The story is really engaging, and throws you into a big mystery regarding the Tojo Clan, the 10 billion yen surronding it, and the little girl known as Haruka.
It has many twists and turns throughout; some characters even double-crossing, or fuck it, even triple-crossing, playing games with each other.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, but I do believe it is well-written, even with all these twists, each can be something easy to fuck up, but thankfully, it all makes sense by the end, and the character's motivations also make sense.
With that in mind, I feel like I do need to discuss the game's voice acting.
It's no secret to everyone who has heard about this series, that the 1st game was, for the longest time, the only one to ever get an English Dub.
The biggest thing about it, is that they actually got some pretty well-known and talented voice actors in it, ranging from Bill Farmer, Debi Derryberry, Robin Atkin Downes and, of course, Mark Hamill, playing Goro Majima.
The problem is, even if these actors try their best with what they're given, the overall direction feels stitled, and some lines even have slight cuts in the middle of dialogue, or some emotions are not conveyed properly... or fuck, some of them are trying too hard, it seems.
One of the worst examples has got to be Darryl Kurylo as the main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.
Now Kazuma Kiryu is, perhaps, one of the most bad-ass characters in gaming and a total gentlemen, and his original Japanese voice conveys that so well, being voiced by Takaya Kuroda.
But it really seems like, with the direction he was given, Kurylo had a hard time emoting the right amount for many scenes or, and this is most likely a consequence of having to try to lip-sync dialogue properly, he speaks too quickly.
The voice in general is good, and he has some pretty bad-ass lines, but it's clear that the voice direction overall makes the voice acting suffer.
And that's not even to talk about the sometimes excessing swearing the English Dub has, but that didn't really affect me as much. Actually, many times it was understandable, considering the Japanese language barely has swears of the typical type, so with people like the yakuza or punks swearing, it makes sense.
Okay, time to go to the actual gameplay, and... it's fun!
While you're not exploring the red-light district of Kamurocho, you're engaging in battles that function pretty much like a 3D beat'em up, using a combination of punches, kicks, grabs and throws to put your opponents in their place.
It can feel a bit clunky sometimes locking on to the target you want, but after learning some of Komaki's techniques later in the game, you gain more options for crowd control, which is nice.
Outside of that, you can participate in various activities in Kamurocho, such as playing arcade games, gambling in the casino, go to hostess clubs and try to hold a conversation, or simply eat food at a convenience store or a restaurant.
There's plenty of side-missions for you to do too. I didn't engage in all of them, I think I only ended up doing 16, but they were alright, and get you more engaged with the world around you, even if some of them are not very interesting.
The overall presentation of the game is nice. Graphics are nice and detailed, even if some NPCs take a hit in graphical fidelity, and the music is pretty good too, with the main battle theme, Funk Goes On, being one of my favourites.
Overall, while Yakuza 1 does have its share of flaws, I believe it's a good first game in a long-running series, and it holds up pretty well in my eyes.
An earnest, easily captivating story set inside a very alive city. The protagonist is just this absolutely perfect person without a flaw, except maybe that he is in the Yakuza, which is presented as a cutthroat, ruthless organization, full of betrayal and deception. Same for the police. Both of its main representatives are outlaws, who actively escape them.
Though, admittedly, there is a certain hope that both will work, somehow, an inevitability. Other than that, my only complaint is the fact that villains often get introduced the moment you have to go face them, rather than letting the feelings of anger towards them simmer.
But the main story beats are so simple to get behind. A helpless child, a person's sense of duty and honor. Kazuma is such an idealistic character that he goes to prison for 10 years on false accusations to protect those closest to him. And you'd think at some point he'd break, and he does for like a split-second I guess, but other than that he just doesn't. It's, well, inspiring to be honest, to have a protagonist like this, almost as if he's taken straight out of Kamen Rider or something like that. Just a bit more presentable to older audiences; though, in reality, there's little difference. And that's admirable, I thought it was brilliant.
All the ridiculous characters really shine in combat, though. Fighting Majima, Nishiki, or that fucking red-coat gunman. The fighting system is full of these high-impact hits and animations, but it has a solid enough depth too for the game's length.
The way you improve is through gathering EXP or finding people who can teach you techniques. This is where the living city comes in. Aside from being an excellent backdrop to this crime thriller, there's all these individual stories, which are even more ridiculous. The main story and the side-content were actually written by different people, and several, even crazier ones were rejected because they would just go too far with how silly they were. Imagine that.
Somehow, despite the fact that traveling takes a good while, I did feel inclined to check the side-activities out from time to time. Not enough to complete the game 100%, but enough to get immersed in the setting. The game really shows just how effective side-content can be when it is able to complement the core gameplay. The game is very heavy-handed and has these crazy high-stakes scenarios one after another. So go play baseball for a little while. Go visit a girl, spend some of that money you've gathered up.
Overall, even in this first entry, I'm entirely captivated by this series. I honestly can't believe how many of these games exist, and it makes me so glad to know how much more is in store. It's a game I'll need every once in a while. And maybe you will too.
Though, admittedly, there is a certain hope that both will work, somehow, an inevitability. Other than that, my only complaint is the fact that villains often get introduced the moment you have to go face them, rather than letting the feelings of anger towards them simmer.
But the main story beats are so simple to get behind. A helpless child, a person's sense of duty and honor. Kazuma is such an idealistic character that he goes to prison for 10 years on false accusations to protect those closest to him. And you'd think at some point he'd break, and he does for like a split-second I guess, but other than that he just doesn't. It's, well, inspiring to be honest, to have a protagonist like this, almost as if he's taken straight out of Kamen Rider or something like that. Just a bit more presentable to older audiences; though, in reality, there's little difference. And that's admirable, I thought it was brilliant.
All the ridiculous characters really shine in combat, though. Fighting Majima, Nishiki, or that fucking red-coat gunman. The fighting system is full of these high-impact hits and animations, but it has a solid enough depth too for the game's length.
The way you improve is through gathering EXP or finding people who can teach you techniques. This is where the living city comes in. Aside from being an excellent backdrop to this crime thriller, there's all these individual stories, which are even more ridiculous. The main story and the side-content were actually written by different people, and several, even crazier ones were rejected because they would just go too far with how silly they were. Imagine that.
Somehow, despite the fact that traveling takes a good while, I did feel inclined to check the side-activities out from time to time. Not enough to complete the game 100%, but enough to get immersed in the setting. The game really shows just how effective side-content can be when it is able to complement the core gameplay. The game is very heavy-handed and has these crazy high-stakes scenarios one after another. So go play baseball for a little while. Go visit a girl, spend some of that money you've gathered up.
Overall, even in this first entry, I'm entirely captivated by this series. I honestly can't believe how many of these games exist, and it makes me so glad to know how much more is in store. It's a game I'll need every once in a while. And maybe you will too.
After beating all of the Kiryu saga and going back to its roots playing Yakuza (thanks to the restoration patch) I can say it's quite an experience. It's no surprise that the Kiwami remakes are not just poor reimaginations of the PS2 era but barebone games on themselves, only interesting as proofs of concept for certain gameplay gimmicks that in some cases are nice and harmless (leveling on Kiwami 2) and in others can be fatal blows to pace and overall consistency (Majima Everywhere).
It is while playing Yakuza this time that I made peace with how bad I received what I thought was a poor beginning with certain good ideas and moments; this first game is flawed and poorly written at times but it echoes in a way that Kiwami cannot even begin to grasp. What here is moody there is bland, the tries and failures of an innovative and risky endeavour such as Nagoshi and his team did with this monstrous project is lack of consistency and polish on the 7th mainline game of an established franchise. I'm not gonna keep comparing even if I thought before playing this that I would. Yakuza is so much more.
Kamurocho has character, a character I didn't see fully formed until Yakuza 4 is its own beast here, a city brimmed with danger and threats to Kiryu that manages to be absolutely ridiculous while keeping a tone. In fact this is much of what happens with this game on every single level. The idea of the two sides of Yakuza is somehow a modern construct that has been developing, that's clear, and in this first approach without added "funny bits" Yakuza presents itself as a much more gruesome and sad game without going to the places the franchise has risked to go in the latest games. The plot doesn't break grounds and makes mistakes on the most stupid places (why the fuck Haruka goes to Shangri La?), having too much for its own good, closing arcs that haven't been developed enough, killing characters that could make much more alive in future games... But in the end, although flawed, it all comes together. The bullshit is minor, the mysoginy is a load of crap but it got a tiny bit better in future games (hope it gets inexistent at some point, please, Yokoyama), and the poorly built scenes make sense for the arcs. The plot is flimsy but Kiryu manages to make it not crush, as he always does.
See the beginning of what I consider the best main character in this medium as it was meant to be makes even clearer to me why he has been a totem for this franchise every single time.
Kiryu makes everything work.
His personality is as firm as the game needs to be, never breaks enough, and his idealism is always the point of conjunction for characters and plot itself to connect making the themes resonate above the mistakes, the sides coalesce; Kiryu is Yakuza at its core. Kiryu is so much Yakuza that it has permeated to the point the franchise can continue without him because his way of connecting with reality is embodied on every single aspect of this franchise. Every game tells a tale about him because Kiryu is the embodiment of the core ideals of what Ryu Ga Gotoku stands and believes.
Yakuza is colder, faulty, feels rushed and risky, unfocused but heartful, it is a first try right in its core. This game talks about a particular Kamurocho, one full of bands and people, one that Kiryu doesn't feel his own. Weird and new, closed, in need of help. Kamurocho is always a reflection of the spirit of times, of the game itself and his aspirations.
This tries so much it fails at times, but it tries its best. It's always better to fight and lose on your own terms than to not even try. Nagoshi succeeded even with failures, and this game can be a masterpiece and a disaster on spans of 10 minutes. And even if the plot trembles and the combat pales I just needed a walk through the city. To hear the music, to see the beauty and have the realization that this, right here, is everything I love; this is the Kamurocho I know from memory, the one I've visited through the years. It's a faithful companion I've seen shackled, alive most times and dead a few, but a city I, as Kiryu, can't stop coming back even with its share of problems.
I love Kiryu and Haruka to death, I love the vibes, and the final boss fight makes me chill every single time. I look at the screen and sometimes just smile thinking about the journeys, the incredible moments I have gone through looking at the back of the most iconic jacket in gaming, and looking to the sky, to the Millennium Tower, and glancing at the sheer brilliance of everything on display here. A building that turns always the main character without pretending to, a tall and threatening presence that every single time means death and loss, but doesn't want any of that. I look at the tower that wasn't here 10 years ago and now stands at the center, always the center, and think about this city that made me cry and laugh so many times I managed to discover more about myself and try my best to keep fighting. And that's exactly what Yakuza is about. What Kiryu stands for. What Kamurocho has always meant to me.
Kiwami's was dead, this is alive. Not much more to say.
It is while playing Yakuza this time that I made peace with how bad I received what I thought was a poor beginning with certain good ideas and moments; this first game is flawed and poorly written at times but it echoes in a way that Kiwami cannot even begin to grasp. What here is moody there is bland, the tries and failures of an innovative and risky endeavour such as Nagoshi and his team did with this monstrous project is lack of consistency and polish on the 7th mainline game of an established franchise. I'm not gonna keep comparing even if I thought before playing this that I would. Yakuza is so much more.
Kamurocho has character, a character I didn't see fully formed until Yakuza 4 is its own beast here, a city brimmed with danger and threats to Kiryu that manages to be absolutely ridiculous while keeping a tone. In fact this is much of what happens with this game on every single level. The idea of the two sides of Yakuza is somehow a modern construct that has been developing, that's clear, and in this first approach without added "funny bits" Yakuza presents itself as a much more gruesome and sad game without going to the places the franchise has risked to go in the latest games. The plot doesn't break grounds and makes mistakes on the most stupid places (why the fuck Haruka goes to Shangri La?), having too much for its own good, closing arcs that haven't been developed enough, killing characters that could make much more alive in future games... But in the end, although flawed, it all comes together. The bullshit is minor, the mysoginy is a load of crap but it got a tiny bit better in future games (hope it gets inexistent at some point, please, Yokoyama), and the poorly built scenes make sense for the arcs. The plot is flimsy but Kiryu manages to make it not crush, as he always does.
See the beginning of what I consider the best main character in this medium as it was meant to be makes even clearer to me why he has been a totem for this franchise every single time.
Kiryu makes everything work.
His personality is as firm as the game needs to be, never breaks enough, and his idealism is always the point of conjunction for characters and plot itself to connect making the themes resonate above the mistakes, the sides coalesce; Kiryu is Yakuza at its core. Kiryu is so much Yakuza that it has permeated to the point the franchise can continue without him because his way of connecting with reality is embodied on every single aspect of this franchise. Every game tells a tale about him because Kiryu is the embodiment of the core ideals of what Ryu Ga Gotoku stands and believes.
Yakuza is colder, faulty, feels rushed and risky, unfocused but heartful, it is a first try right in its core. This game talks about a particular Kamurocho, one full of bands and people, one that Kiryu doesn't feel his own. Weird and new, closed, in need of help. Kamurocho is always a reflection of the spirit of times, of the game itself and his aspirations.
This tries so much it fails at times, but it tries its best. It's always better to fight and lose on your own terms than to not even try. Nagoshi succeeded even with failures, and this game can be a masterpiece and a disaster on spans of 10 minutes. And even if the plot trembles and the combat pales I just needed a walk through the city. To hear the music, to see the beauty and have the realization that this, right here, is everything I love; this is the Kamurocho I know from memory, the one I've visited through the years. It's a faithful companion I've seen shackled, alive most times and dead a few, but a city I, as Kiryu, can't stop coming back even with its share of problems.
I love Kiryu and Haruka to death, I love the vibes, and the final boss fight makes me chill every single time. I look at the screen and sometimes just smile thinking about the journeys, the incredible moments I have gone through looking at the back of the most iconic jacket in gaming, and looking to the sky, to the Millennium Tower, and glancing at the sheer brilliance of everything on display here. A building that turns always the main character without pretending to, a tall and threatening presence that every single time means death and loss, but doesn't want any of that. I look at the tower that wasn't here 10 years ago and now stands at the center, always the center, and think about this city that made me cry and laugh so many times I managed to discover more about myself and try my best to keep fighting. And that's exactly what Yakuza is about. What Kiryu stands for. What Kamurocho has always meant to me.
Kiwami's was dead, this is alive. Not much more to say.
Recently played Yakuza 0 and absolutely loved it so thought I'd give the original a go. I was surprised how much of the Yakuza formula originates from this game. Even though it's not aged that great in areas, I still had fun playing it and I enjoyed experiencing the Yakuza series from the beginning. Can't wait to play the rest of the games.
Please, give this a chance.
I've seen so many people saying this game should be avoided just because Kiwami 1 exists, please don't.
The only thing that Kiwami adds over this is the Nishiki's corruption arc, but other than that they are pratically the same thing story wise. Leaving the story aside, in this version there are many details that for one reason or another there are not in the remake, details that I really appreciated and I think every fan of the series will also appreciate.
If you are a true fan of the series do not skip this game just because "there is a remake" (remake that reuses at least 80% of Y0's assets LMAOO), despite everything this is still an extremly valid gaming experience. please give it a chance.
I've seen so many people saying this game should be avoided just because Kiwami 1 exists, please don't.
The only thing that Kiwami adds over this is the Nishiki's corruption arc, but other than that they are pratically the same thing story wise. Leaving the story aside, in this version there are many details that for one reason or another there are not in the remake, details that I really appreciated and I think every fan of the series will also appreciate.
If you are a true fan of the series do not skip this game just because "there is a remake" (remake that reuses at least 80% of Y0's assets LMAOO), despite everything this is still an extremly valid gaming experience. please give it a chance.
7,5/10.
Não vou elaborar, serei direto e n vou justificar por agora, posso fazer isso quando jogar o kiwami.
Uma história curiosa e um tanto intrigante, ainda que de certa forma algo tradicional, bastante funcional.
Kiryu é um protagonista que tem um boa escrita e demonstra potencial em jogos futuros.
Dito isso a narrativa dessa versão é fraca demais, talvez as limitações e o contexto da produção realmente pesou,então vou ser brando.
Um combate que tem alguma substância quando tu aprende as técnicas com o komaki e upa os 3 segmentos de skill em 10, aí o jogo realmente mostra o seu brilho e fica consideravelmente mais divertido, mas até lá.... demora demais.
Muita coisa não funciona apropriadamente, acaba sendo um combate medíocre, principalmente se eu pensar em querer comparar com god hand ( mas não vou por que seria desonestidade).
O que foi skill issue eu consertei com o tempo, mas de fato esse jogo envelheceu em algumas mecânicas e isso afetou minha experiência, não tanto quando poderia, mas o suficiente pra eu me divertir bem pouco no geral.
As sides de fato são boas, algumas tem um valor cômico bom, outras tem um tom de drama interessante, mas raso, ainda que bom e etc, a forma como kamurocho foi projetada e como algumas sides se inciiam é algo bem inteligente, soa orgânico algumas coisas nesse jogo e isso me pegou.
Não fiz todas as sides, fiquei cansado não hei de negar, mas ainda assim é algo de destaque e valor.
As OSTs são boas, eu só acabei baixando a funk goes on pra ouvir, mas dei uma ouvida em outras fora de jogo e de fato nenhuma chega a ser ruim, parabéns hidenori shoji.
Eu gostei do capítulo do date com a filha dele, aquilo ali foi bom, ainda assim só comecei a engatar mesmo no história do ch 7 em diante e sim tem quebra de ritmo em x momentos, acho isso um cu, acontece com mais frequência em kurohyou.... pqp!
A batalha final é muito boa em narrativa e em gameplay. Algo que n mencionei, as boss fights desse jogo são boas... A do majima, a do lao e contra o nishiki são realmente um ponto acima nesse jogo.
É isso, ansioso pelo yakuza 2 e dps vou pros remakes, mas num geral gostei, causou uma boa impressão da franquia.
Obs: sim eu sei que esqueci de falar da haruka e mais coisas, mas não vou falar aqui e sim no kiwami então até a próxima.
Não vou elaborar, serei direto e n vou justificar por agora, posso fazer isso quando jogar o kiwami.
Uma história curiosa e um tanto intrigante, ainda que de certa forma algo tradicional, bastante funcional.
Kiryu é um protagonista que tem um boa escrita e demonstra potencial em jogos futuros.
Dito isso a narrativa dessa versão é fraca demais, talvez as limitações e o contexto da produção realmente pesou,então vou ser brando.
Um combate que tem alguma substância quando tu aprende as técnicas com o komaki e upa os 3 segmentos de skill em 10, aí o jogo realmente mostra o seu brilho e fica consideravelmente mais divertido, mas até lá.... demora demais.
Muita coisa não funciona apropriadamente, acaba sendo um combate medíocre, principalmente se eu pensar em querer comparar com god hand ( mas não vou por que seria desonestidade).
O que foi skill issue eu consertei com o tempo, mas de fato esse jogo envelheceu em algumas mecânicas e isso afetou minha experiência, não tanto quando poderia, mas o suficiente pra eu me divertir bem pouco no geral.
As sides de fato são boas, algumas tem um valor cômico bom, outras tem um tom de drama interessante, mas raso, ainda que bom e etc, a forma como kamurocho foi projetada e como algumas sides se inciiam é algo bem inteligente, soa orgânico algumas coisas nesse jogo e isso me pegou.
Não fiz todas as sides, fiquei cansado não hei de negar, mas ainda assim é algo de destaque e valor.
As OSTs são boas, eu só acabei baixando a funk goes on pra ouvir, mas dei uma ouvida em outras fora de jogo e de fato nenhuma chega a ser ruim, parabéns hidenori shoji.
Eu gostei do capítulo do date com a filha dele, aquilo ali foi bom, ainda assim só comecei a engatar mesmo no história do ch 7 em diante e sim tem quebra de ritmo em x momentos, acho isso um cu, acontece com mais frequência em kurohyou.... pqp!
A batalha final é muito boa em narrativa e em gameplay. Algo que n mencionei, as boss fights desse jogo são boas... A do majima, a do lao e contra o nishiki são realmente um ponto acima nesse jogo.
É isso, ansioso pelo yakuza 2 e dps vou pros remakes, mas num geral gostei, causou uma boa impressão da franquia.
Obs: sim eu sei que esqueci de falar da haruka e mais coisas, mas não vou falar aqui e sim no kiwami então até a próxima.