This game sucks and that's incredible. There is so much bad here that alone could warrant a 1/10 score for a lesser game, but here I genuinely just adore the whole package, and those familiar with Yoko Taro's other games know full well that the bad design is just part of the experience. It's repetitive, maps suck, some of the music makes me want to burn my ears and it repeatedly overstays it's welcome, but proceeding through it just nets you with a sense of satisfaction I have hardly experienced elsewhere. You might love it or hate it but I would definitely say it's worth at least a try from any gamer who enjoys character actions and j-media in general.

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better due to the fact it shares 0’s shiny combat as if the combat of the original game is something broken, something “outdated”.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.

Puts you in a trance from the beginning, where you’ll be under its spell till the end. Lingering even after that, begging you to come back and take flight once again. Electrosophere may not be as mechanically sound as the previous entry in the franchise, which is why it speaks volumes that it’s able to grip you tightly regardless, where you’ll dance to its tunes and fly through its skies. It’s more than just a pretty aesthetic, it’s more than just anti-war.

AC3’s view on war itself is that of a sick game played by sick old men and it treats it as such. What are you fighting for, really? Every mission feels like you’re nothing more than a pawn for powers greater than yourself, it's all a ploy. All of it. Every one wants a piece of the pie, a taste of power, a chance to reign supreme. Your actions are not your own, your decisions are not your own. It's all an illusion, a trick, and at the end of the day what are you fighting for, really? To maintain the status quo? The same one in which people live under corporations that only exist to suck them dry even further? What was it all for? Do you the connections you hold have any meaning?

The true ending which you unlock after having done all five routes is the ultimate showcase of this, showing why wars are really fought. Nothing noble, nothing special. Just a personal vendetta. Did it even matter? It's just a game at the end of the day.

𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘