THERE'S A HOLE IN A BUCKET i mean what
Known by the community as "Yakuza: Black Panther", Kurohyou is a game that I rarely see show up in discussion of the Yakuza games. It's somewhat understandable; aside from taking place in Kamurocho, this spinoff is in no way connected to the series as a whole. Team 4KL finally released an english translation for the first game (why did they do they second one first), and I've been on a PSP kick lately, so screw it! Let's hit the streets.
In this story, we follow Ukyo Tatsuya, a delinquent who's known nothing but fighting to survive as his way of life. However, after pretending to be part of the Tojo Clan, he finds himself in hot water with the REAL Tojo Clan. Trapped in Kamurocho, his only choice is to fight his way through 10 rounds in an underground fighting ring. On top of that, many of his opponents seem to share some connection to his troubled past. He's gonna have to learn what fighting truly means to him if he wants to make it out alive.
This game's overworld presentation takes a page out of Yakuza 1/2's book. Fixed camera angles across the city of Kamurocho, this time in pre-rendered form. For PSP standards, I think it looks excellent. The manga cutscenes have some cool character art in them, but it's a lot of looking at stills while listening to dialogue. It looks great in the few instances where there's genuine animation, but it's really unengaging otherwise. The music in this game is insane. It ranges from angsty electric guitar rock to EDM. I looked up the composers in my free time, and whoops, Hideki Naganuma jumpscare. The funk always shows itself where I least expect it... Also, I just want to say that I'm glad that RGG had some restraint with this spinoff. Kazuma Kiryu is nowhere to be seen in this game, not even a single mention of his name. You may have a chance encounter with a certain character from Yakuza 4, but this game is really all about its own characters, and I appreciate that.
The minigames you may know Yakuza for are pretty lackluster on the PSP. Bowling and batting are scaled down to be 2D and janky. The karaoke and massage parlor have been downgraded to a game where you literally mash a button until it's over, the latter of which is done while JPEGs of a sexy woman scroll by. I can't make this shit up. Feels like one of the Meet-n'-Fuck flash games, and that's not a compliment. It's not all bad though. Beating up thugs doesn't exactly pay the bills, and so Tatsuya has to make an honest living via part-time jobs, contextualized as the good minigames. Stack that ice cream! Serve those burgers! Beat down the overly-horny people at the strip club! Fun and profitable times for the whole family! I wish they had stuff like this in the mainline Yakuza games I've played.
Once you get into a fight, the game really begins. People frequently compare this gameplay to something like Def Jam (the developers' previous titles), but the perspective makes me more keen on drawing comparisons to 3D fighting games; Tekken, Dead or Alive, or Virtua Fighter. There's almost no HUD in battle, most information is conveyed through Tatsuya himself. If he's low on stamina, his attacks come out slower, his stance is visually weaker, and his breath becomes visible. Aside from his standard health meter, Tatsuya can get injured in four different areas: the head, chest, arms, and legs. The more damage is done to each of these, the more handicapped and vulnerable you'll be while in a fight. You can't heal injuries with standard healing items either. Sometimes you'll get gut-checked in a fight and just have to tough it out. Tatsuya's brawler fighting style is pretty basic, but he gradually becomes a jack of all trades AND a master of all, if you commit to grinding a bit. You learn new styles as you progress through the game, each with their own completely different stat boosts and movesets. There's kung-fu, pro wrestling, boxing, and more. It's energetic and fun, but it's not perfect.
First problem I have with the game are the frequent QTEs that demand you hammer the X button. I'm not even sure that mashing it does anything to help you recover faster. At some point, I just gave up when enemies grabbed me and saved my thumb from any potential cramps. Speaking of grabs, that's the second issue I have. Grabbing enemies is a surefire way to deal some safe damage with no risk of counterattack. I almost wish this game adopted Dead or Alive's "triangle system", where each type of attack can be countered by a different type. It's fun to play to each fighting style's strengths, but nothing is safer than the good ol' grabby hands. Thirdly, I wish there was a combo list you could view for each fighting style. As it is, you'll probably be mashing random buttons until you find what order makes your "NEW PUNCH ATTACK" actually come out.
I'm kinda blown away by what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio pulled off here. It truly is the experience of a console Yakuza game, just condensed down into a PSP title while still maintaining its own identity. It kinda shocks me that these titles never got any sort of remakes or ports. I'd say "oh it's a shame Tatsuya never came back", but that's only half true. This game did well enough to get a sequel, so I'm off to treat Kamurocho as my own personal stomping grounds yet again.
Known by the community as "Yakuza: Black Panther", Kurohyou is a game that I rarely see show up in discussion of the Yakuza games. It's somewhat understandable; aside from taking place in Kamurocho, this spinoff is in no way connected to the series as a whole. Team 4KL finally released an english translation for the first game (why did they do they second one first), and I've been on a PSP kick lately, so screw it! Let's hit the streets.
In this story, we follow Ukyo Tatsuya, a delinquent who's known nothing but fighting to survive as his way of life. However, after pretending to be part of the Tojo Clan, he finds himself in hot water with the REAL Tojo Clan. Trapped in Kamurocho, his only choice is to fight his way through 10 rounds in an underground fighting ring. On top of that, many of his opponents seem to share some connection to his troubled past. He's gonna have to learn what fighting truly means to him if he wants to make it out alive.
This game's overworld presentation takes a page out of Yakuza 1/2's book. Fixed camera angles across the city of Kamurocho, this time in pre-rendered form. For PSP standards, I think it looks excellent. The manga cutscenes have some cool character art in them, but it's a lot of looking at stills while listening to dialogue. It looks great in the few instances where there's genuine animation, but it's really unengaging otherwise. The music in this game is insane. It ranges from angsty electric guitar rock to EDM. I looked up the composers in my free time, and whoops, Hideki Naganuma jumpscare. The funk always shows itself where I least expect it... Also, I just want to say that I'm glad that RGG had some restraint with this spinoff. Kazuma Kiryu is nowhere to be seen in this game, not even a single mention of his name. You may have a chance encounter with a certain character from Yakuza 4, but this game is really all about its own characters, and I appreciate that.
The minigames you may know Yakuza for are pretty lackluster on the PSP. Bowling and batting are scaled down to be 2D and janky. The karaoke and massage parlor have been downgraded to a game where you literally mash a button until it's over, the latter of which is done while JPEGs of a sexy woman scroll by. I can't make this shit up. Feels like one of the Meet-n'-Fuck flash games, and that's not a compliment. It's not all bad though. Beating up thugs doesn't exactly pay the bills, and so Tatsuya has to make an honest living via part-time jobs, contextualized as the good minigames. Stack that ice cream! Serve those burgers! Beat down the overly-horny people at the strip club! Fun and profitable times for the whole family! I wish they had stuff like this in the mainline Yakuza games I've played.
Once you get into a fight, the game really begins. People frequently compare this gameplay to something like Def Jam (the developers' previous titles), but the perspective makes me more keen on drawing comparisons to 3D fighting games; Tekken, Dead or Alive, or Virtua Fighter. There's almost no HUD in battle, most information is conveyed through Tatsuya himself. If he's low on stamina, his attacks come out slower, his stance is visually weaker, and his breath becomes visible. Aside from his standard health meter, Tatsuya can get injured in four different areas: the head, chest, arms, and legs. The more damage is done to each of these, the more handicapped and vulnerable you'll be while in a fight. You can't heal injuries with standard healing items either. Sometimes you'll get gut-checked in a fight and just have to tough it out. Tatsuya's brawler fighting style is pretty basic, but he gradually becomes a jack of all trades AND a master of all, if you commit to grinding a bit. You learn new styles as you progress through the game, each with their own completely different stat boosts and movesets. There's kung-fu, pro wrestling, boxing, and more. It's energetic and fun, but it's not perfect.
First problem I have with the game are the frequent QTEs that demand you hammer the X button. I'm not even sure that mashing it does anything to help you recover faster. At some point, I just gave up when enemies grabbed me and saved my thumb from any potential cramps. Speaking of grabs, that's the second issue I have. Grabbing enemies is a surefire way to deal some safe damage with no risk of counterattack. I almost wish this game adopted Dead or Alive's "triangle system", where each type of attack can be countered by a different type. It's fun to play to each fighting style's strengths, but nothing is safer than the good ol' grabby hands. Thirdly, I wish there was a combo list you could view for each fighting style. As it is, you'll probably be mashing random buttons until you find what order makes your "NEW PUNCH ATTACK" actually come out.
I'm kinda blown away by what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio pulled off here. It truly is the experience of a console Yakuza game, just condensed down into a PSP title while still maintaining its own identity. It kinda shocks me that these titles never got any sort of remakes or ports. I'd say "oh it's a shame Tatsuya never came back", but that's only half true. This game did well enough to get a sequel, so I'm off to treat Kamurocho as my own personal stomping grounds yet again.