Yakuza

"A Shenmue-type story with annoying gameplay."

Yakuza is a PS2-exclusive originally released in Japan and brought to America in 2006. It is a beat-em-up mixed with sandboxing.

Story: 8/10 - by far the strongest point

Yakuza has 13 chapters. You play as Kazuma, an enforcer for the Dojima family, part of the Tojo clan. You end up taking the blame for your boss's murder. The investigator doesn't believe you but you serve 10 years in prison.

Upon release Kazuma discovers a friend missing and she has apparently stolen $10 billion from the clan. Kazuma, along with the rival families, seeks this woman. Most of the families pretty much hate you for the murder, so you'll have to fight them off. Along the way you befriend an orphan and the detective who obsesses over finding the truth behind the 1995 murder. I liked the character development with the orphan and the detective.

I played the game just to complete the story. Unfortunately like so many others as of late, the story gets unnecessarily complicated in the end. Cutscenes usually load 3 in a row. Despite this the story is still very good.

Graphics: 8/10

Graphics are good, faces are done well. Lots of people walk around Tokyo.

Sound: 5/10

Yakuza has English voiceovers, some of which are done very badly. Kazuma's voice is fine, but there's a bunch of forced accents. Street punks will run up to you yelling forced curses like they just got home from a 50 Cent concert. The worst part is in the translation, I counted a few times that $10 million was mentioned instead of $10 billion.

Controls: 4/10

You can block, dodge, attack unarmed or with weapons, and grab. Once you learn the combo, you pretty much just use the same combinations all game long.

The button to center camera doesn't work. Often your view is obscured. It's not like GTA where you can move the right stick to control the camera.

Gameplay: 4/10 – constant frustration

You walk around Tokyo investigating while fighting random encounters and boss battles. The exploring portion is fun, Tokyo is recreated well. Every chapter has a main mission with over 70 sidequests available.

The beat-em-up part is really annoying. A cutscene starts before every battle, which isn't too bad but you'll end up fighting nearly every block. You can sometimes run away from random battles, but there's no point since you need the little experience and money you gain from them. They don't take long but it's frustrating to have your exploring constantly interrupted. The camera is bad as you'll constantly get blinded from attacks.

You gain experience and money through fights and missions. This allows you to gain special moves, defense/HP, and normal attacks.

If you lose 3 in a row you can turn it to Easy, which has no negative effect on the story. Enemies will attack you 1-on-1 except for bosses, who always attack. I suggest turning the game to Easy and saving a lot of frustration.

Bottom line: recommended to Shenmue fans. If you want a good beat-em-up play Final Fight or Streets of Rage. Yakuza is not it.

Yakuza is very similar to Shenmue, with just a lot more fighting and no QTEs. If you enjoyed the story of the Shenmue series, you should enjoy Yakuza. It is a flawed game but it does have an enjoyable story. If it wasn't for the hundreds of random encounters it would be a much better game. It should take around 10-15 hours to complete.

Pros
Good story, good graphics, fun exploring Tokyo

Cons
Obscuring camera, too many load screens, constant little fights

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/09

Game Release: Yakuza (US, 09/05/06)