Cool storyline, fun fighting-engine

User Rating: 8 | Yakuza 2 PS2
By ShiningPhantasy | Review Date:
Game-Play: The primary adventure for Yakuza 2 progresses in gripping fashion; featuring an intriguing storyline and well-defined characters, accentuated by sophisticated writing and storytelling. The characters feel natural and genuine, and there are a plethora of angles that the story is played out from. The intermissions will sometimes be drawn out a bit too long for my liking however I still have a strong level of appreciation for how committed the developers were when creating these story segments. Between intermission segments the main game entails Kiryu Kazuma--who is a very ballzy, no-nonsense character--to proceed from one destination to the next to trigger various events. All of this takes place in two cities--one very large and the other more moderately sized--and occasionally a smaller village area. Most of the time events are comprised of a brief cut-scene and then followed by a physical-combat confrontation. The fighting mechanics are very well done, easy to grasp but with enough variables to keep the player occupied and interested. If your power-gauge is at a required level Kiryu can perform some special moves that will be related to the surrounding area, or where and how the enemy is positioned. These moves are illustrated in a more dramatic fashion and are devastating to watch, and there are a lot of different animations depending on the situation such as what weapon Kiryu is using, or a team attack with a NPC who is tagging along and fighting along side you. Boss battles are even more fun since they always have some kind of unique fighting mechanic that is distinct from the other encounters in the game; they are carried out in especially dramatic fashion and will feature challenges such as sequential and timing button presses to initiate a crucial attack, defensive maneuver, or a shift in momentum. There are also random encounters with common scrubs to practice your fighting skills on, and additional maneuvers and attacks can be learned as well as abilities and status boosted over the course of the game. One of the best areas of the game are the handful of segments where Kiryu will venture through a structure of some sort and pummel numerous adversaries who attempt to block his path, I would have liked to have seen more of these areas. All in all a very nice result was achieved with the fighting engine.

So the primary adventure is fun and I do not have many gripes; the optional side-quests and recreational distractions on the other hand do not fare quite as well. There is a ton of optional activities to do in the game; this ranges from casino games, arcade games, bowling and indoor golf, going to bars and clubs, mahjong and similar games, being a host at a ladies club; it is all pretty wide open to what Kiryu can do with his spare time. There is also the typical helping of ordinary citizens with routine troubles thrown in there for good measure. Unfortunately none of these activities are all that entertaining and I didn't feel inclined to take part in them for very long, it felt like spending time with this portion of the game only took away from the main adventure and would delay the fun that I would otherwise have. You can also just wander around town and go shopping, dine-out, and visit all kinds of entertainment venues, it just depends upon how much time you want to spend with the game, but usually rewards and pay-offs are acquired from participation, nothing that is essential to completion of the main quest however. A few tweaks to the recreational portions of the game and the Yakuza series could really take off. 8/10

Visuals: Yakuza 2 is a very well-detailed game; obviously a lot of work went into thoroughly illustrating the two primary cities and surrounding areas, and the attacks during battle sequences look as convincing as one could hope for. There is a lot of activity going on visually at all times within the two cities; I may not find the environments as appealing as a fantasy role-playing game or storybook platformer but for what Yakuza is intended to be the graphics definitely exceed expectations. The cut-scenes also look very good and are well acted out; the characters impose a heavy dose of personality and imagery through the visual presentation. Nicely done. 9/10

Music: There is not too much to say about music in the game; much of the game is comprised of city sounds and atmosphere without a soundtrack backing it up for the exploration portions. There are some complementary pieces of music during real-time cut-scenes, and some background music for the fighting portions of the game, but nothing stands out as anything especially notable. The voice-acting is professionally done and again exhibits the strong commitment to the storyline from the developers; the spoken dialog does not utilize American voice-overs and is acted out in Japanese; this was an intelligent decision as it very effectively complements the feeling and atmosphere. 6.5/10

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