NOTE: EMULATED ON PCSX2. 60FPS CHEAT BUT SOME GLITCHES MADE ME REVERT BACK TO 30FPS.
As someone who started the Yakuza franchise with 0 all the way back in 2017 I always wanted to go back and look how the series really started in 2005. Well now I did and I can firmly say that I enjoyed what the first Yakuza had to offer despite some noticeably rough edges.
Starting off strong and man they really nailed the atmosphere of Kamurocho and its seediness. You never feel safe and the hustle and bustle is felt with superb audio that makes the city feel alive. This is also helped with a fantastic selection of music that perfectly fits the tone, with the battle themes especially being absolutely sublime. Story is also pretty nifty, being one of the more personal in the franchise, dealing with the fallout of a shooting that fractured the relationship between Kiryu and Nishki while also leaving behind a trail of destruction neither could see coming.
On the negative side of things I'd first like to say that while Kamurocho is visually pleasing, navigating it sucks complete ass in the first game. A combination of a dogshit map and camera angles that love to disorient Kiryu make traversal a pain and makes avoiding random encounters impossible. When you inevitably get into combat it's not exactly terrible but incredibly unrefined, with Kiryu feeling like a tank and not feeling like the mobile one that later games fixed. This leads to plenty of situations where actually HITTING the enemy is the trickiest maneuver and finishing a combo becomes a game of luck rather than skill. Boss fights are the biggest offender with both Majima encounters in particular being an exercise in how much pain you can tolerate as he zips around the arena while you try your damnedest to actually deal damage (not supporting this is how Heat Actions feel way too situational). On a more humorous note the dub is really funny and not as bad as people say, with some actors like the ones they got for Shimano and especially Date being really fucking good. The biggest issue is how the worst actor is who they got for Kiryu, as he can't emote at all which makes the many emotional moments feel flat. Also the excessive swearing feels incredibly immature and makes the entire experience feel overly edgy (but its also really funny).
Roughness aside the first Yakuza is a solid start for one of my favorite ongoing franchises. Would still say Kiwami is better overall but I would also recommend coming back to the first to see how things improved.
7/10
As someone who started the Yakuza franchise with 0 all the way back in 2017 I always wanted to go back and look how the series really started in 2005. Well now I did and I can firmly say that I enjoyed what the first Yakuza had to offer despite some noticeably rough edges.
Starting off strong and man they really nailed the atmosphere of Kamurocho and its seediness. You never feel safe and the hustle and bustle is felt with superb audio that makes the city feel alive. This is also helped with a fantastic selection of music that perfectly fits the tone, with the battle themes especially being absolutely sublime. Story is also pretty nifty, being one of the more personal in the franchise, dealing with the fallout of a shooting that fractured the relationship between Kiryu and Nishki while also leaving behind a trail of destruction neither could see coming.
On the negative side of things I'd first like to say that while Kamurocho is visually pleasing, navigating it sucks complete ass in the first game. A combination of a dogshit map and camera angles that love to disorient Kiryu make traversal a pain and makes avoiding random encounters impossible. When you inevitably get into combat it's not exactly terrible but incredibly unrefined, with Kiryu feeling like a tank and not feeling like the mobile one that later games fixed. This leads to plenty of situations where actually HITTING the enemy is the trickiest maneuver and finishing a combo becomes a game of luck rather than skill. Boss fights are the biggest offender with both Majima encounters in particular being an exercise in how much pain you can tolerate as he zips around the arena while you try your damnedest to actually deal damage (not supporting this is how Heat Actions feel way too situational). On a more humorous note the dub is really funny and not as bad as people say, with some actors like the ones they got for Shimano and especially Date being really fucking good. The biggest issue is how the worst actor is who they got for Kiryu, as he can't emote at all which makes the many emotional moments feel flat. Also the excessive swearing feels incredibly immature and makes the entire experience feel overly edgy (but its also really funny).
Roughness aside the first Yakuza is a solid start for one of my favorite ongoing franchises. Would still say Kiwami is better overall but I would also recommend coming back to the first to see how things improved.
7/10