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Dare I say the most important game in the franchise, writing down a formula that this series has come to follow even more than the original two games did. In a franchise as expansive as Like a Dragon/Yakuza, there are bound to be some titles that are left to the wayside with every title in the series being playable in English, officially or by fan-patches, except this one. I guess itβs easy to see why, the first five chapters are constrained, feeling closer to a tech demo testing out what the PlayStation 3 can accomplish which makes the possibility of a remake unlikely and a remaster even unlikelier.
Even now Iβm struggling to write about this game in detail because to do so I have to expect that you have played or know the details about this game in some capacity but I know thatβs not the case and Iβm left feeling more like a car salesman trying to sell you on this game more than anything else. This is a game thatβs defined by its connection and parallels to the main series more than how it radically differs from it. Miyamoto Musashi is not Kiryu Kazuma but he is Kiryu Kazumanosuke, a man imbued with a similar sense of purpose. Both are characters who are changed by their meeting with Haruka, both have lost years of their life unjustly, and both have been beaten and betrayed. Instead of the way of the Yakuza, Musashi is dead set in following βthe way of the swordβ. Fighting is all he knows, strength is the only measure these men can define themselves but itβs all for naught if they canβt even protect the ones they hold dear. Yakuza has messed around with themes of identity and duality, before and since Kenzan, but the manifestation here is one thatβs based on myth, main series parallels, and their personas in the narrative. To understand what this game is trying to achieve one has to know all three because that context is needed to realize the sense of self imbued on its characters.
Itβs exactly due to these parallels that the final chapter is the most shocking yet makes the most sense, reframing everything youβve come to know and expect. Thereβs an inner conflict in this gameβs philosophy, you canβt adapt the life of Miyamoto Musashi in the image of Kiryu Kazuma and expect some things not to be seen from a mile away. Everyone even remotely familiar with Musashi, either through history or even other fictional works such as Vagabond knows about his famous battle with Sasaki Kojiro, so the outcome is no surprise. Itβs what comes after. Itβs a defiance of fate in the most extreme sense possible, a past unchangeable and it rebels against even that to relay to you that whatβs most sensible isnβt always right, that youβre not defined as a hero because of your actions written in history youβre a hero because of what you do here, right now. Itβs about fighting even the fate that is history itself, even if history is a lie. Even if it doesnβt remember who you truly are. Itβs stubborn, but itβs for yourself. Itβs only due to that, only due to our ability to love that weβre able to heal. Kenzan takes two separate men, one written in the annals of history and one who's a video game legend , and merges them in a way that every distinction between the two synthesizes into one individual who is arguably greater than both of them. Even if it is a lie.
Dare I say the most important game in the franchise, writing down a formula that this series has come to follow even more than the original two games did. In a franchise as expansive as Like a Dragon/Yakuza, there are bound to be some titles that are left to the wayside with every title in the series being playable in English, officially or by fan-patches, except this one. I guess itβs easy to see why, the first five chapters are constrained, feeling closer to a tech demo testing out what the PlayStation 3 can accomplish which makes the possibility of a remake unlikely and a remaster even unlikelier.
Even now Iβm struggling to write about this game in detail because to do so I have to expect that you have played or know the details about this game in some capacity but I know thatβs not the case and Iβm left feeling more like a car salesman trying to sell you on this game more than anything else. This is a game thatβs defined by its connection and parallels to the main series more than how it radically differs from it. Miyamoto Musashi is not Kiryu Kazuma but he is Kiryu Kazumanosuke, a man imbued with a similar sense of purpose. Both are characters who are changed by their meeting with Haruka, both have lost years of their life unjustly, and both have been beaten and betrayed. Instead of the way of the Yakuza, Musashi is dead set in following βthe way of the swordβ. Fighting is all he knows, strength is the only measure these men can define themselves but itβs all for naught if they canβt even protect the ones they hold dear. Yakuza has messed around with themes of identity and duality, before and since Kenzan, but the manifestation here is one thatβs based on myth, main series parallels, and their personas in the narrative. To understand what this game is trying to achieve one has to know all three because that context is needed to realize the sense of self imbued on its characters.
Itβs exactly due to these parallels that the final chapter is the most shocking yet makes the most sense, reframing everything youβve come to know and expect. Thereβs an inner conflict in this gameβs philosophy, you canβt adapt the life of Miyamoto Musashi in the image of Kiryu Kazuma and expect some things not to be seen from a mile away. Everyone even remotely familiar with Musashi, either through history or even other fictional works such as Vagabond knows about his famous battle with Sasaki Kojiro, so the outcome is no surprise. Itβs what comes after. Itβs a defiance of fate in the most extreme sense possible, a past unchangeable and it rebels against even that to relay to you that whatβs most sensible isnβt always right, that youβre not defined as a hero because of your actions written in history youβre a hero because of what you do here, right now. Itβs about fighting even the fate that is history itself, even if history is a lie. Even if it doesnβt remember who you truly are. Itβs stubborn, but itβs for yourself. Itβs only due to that, only due to our ability to love that weβre able to heal. Kenzan takes two separate men, one written in the annals of history and one who's a video game legend , and merges them in a way that every distinction between the two synthesizes into one individual who is arguably greater than both of them. Even if it is a lie.
3 Comments
its peak
I'm looking forward to playing this in the future, thanks for the helpful links aswell.
DomencioDovanna
4 months ago