Bad voice acting and other gameplay issues aside, Yakuza is a real gem in the Playstation 2's library
Story
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The game follows Kazuma Kiryu, a member of the Tojo Clan, a Yakuza family basically. One night, his childhood friend Nishiki accidentally kills the Tojo Clan's first chairman Dojima. Trying to shield Nishiki, Kazuma takes the blame and spends 10 years in jail. When he's finally released, another friend of his Yumi has gone missing and the Tojo Clan's had their 10 Billion Yen stolen, and now the whole of the Japanese underworld is after them, while Kazuma's trying to figure out who stole the 10 Billion, and why Nishiki has betrayed him.
The story is actually pretty good, it has some surprising twists, and the characters are likeable and you really begin to care not only about the characters, but also the generally mystery behind Yumi and the 10 Billion. That is, if you can manage the voice acting, which is horrible, but I'll get back to that later. It's translation is a bit wierd, but it could be a lot worse.
8.5
Gameplay
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Yakuza's gameplay can best be described as Grand Theft Auto mixed with JRPG's.... sort of. While you won't be able to steal cars in the game, the game offers the same amount of freedom as in GTA. The city of Tokyo (Shinjuku ward, if anyone should ask) feels rich and lively, thanks to a impressive atmosphere and a load of side missions and mini-games. You can go to hostess bars and date the many women there, who all have different tastes and personalities. You can also play out the many mini-games the game offers at the arcades, participate in fighting tournaments and much more. It ends up feeling like Shenmue. Actually Yakuza is similar to Shenmue. Like Shenmue, Yakuza has a rich world, that feels very lively, and some likeable characters. Unlike Shenmue however, it doesn't drag on and has a better fighting system (more on that in a bit).
The game is split up into modes that are distinct, yet connected. Event mode which is cut-scenes and cinematic. Adventure mode, where you'll be exploring the Shinjuku Ward (with all the features I just mentioned), and Battle Mode, which is where you'll face off against enemies.
In fact, let's talk about Battle Mode for a while; this is where the JRPG influence comes into play. Battles are random encounters, just like in RPG's (yea I know, it's strange as hell, but that's how it is, hell it even has a loading transition to the battles like in JRPG's), though it's not as bad as in most JRPG's. When enemies spot you, can you thankfully out run them, but if you defeat them, they'll often give you weapons, or money. The battles take place like a brawling fight. You can move everywhere on the spot the battle takes place at, and though you'll mostly rely on your fists and kicks, the game does throw weapons into the mix at times.
Basically, whenever you hit someone, you get a small part of your heat gauge filled up and when it's filled past a certain level, you can use special moves and perform some brutal finishers with both weapons and the game's environment. After each battle (or side mission, or eating at a restaurant for that matter, no joke), you get experience which can be used to upgrade Kazuma (Onimusha style... seriously, the upgrading system is like Onimusha, though that's not a bad thing).
The battle system isn't perfect mind you. It feels very lose at times, mainly due to a lack of lock on system. It means that often, you'll be hitting blindly, and it doesn't get better when certain bosses learns to step aside, which can make things very difficult at times, and it's even more difficult when guns are introduced, as they can take a good chunk of your health. Despite these issues, the battle system actually works well and is generally fun, even if the issues can make everything difficult at times.
The game takes 10-12 hours to finish, though there are hours and hours of side missions and other activities in the game... that is, if you're not playing it on the PS3. I played it on the PS3, and on it, the game froze on me on chapter 3, 10 and 13, and this happens to everyone who plays it on the PS3. Though I did manage to get past chapter 3 & 10, I never got past chapter 13, so I just said "screw it" and watched the ending on youtube. So that's a warning to ya, don't play the game on PS3.
8.5
Graphics
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For a PS2 game, the game looks good, though not perfect. The NPC's walking around in the town have low details, and there's a few clipping issues as well, but for the most part, the graphics looks good for a PS2 game.
7.0
Sound
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The voice acting however, is awful as hell. It's just terrible, they don't try to do a good job and they lack emotions. Even with celebrities as Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Mark Hamill and Michael Madsen, the voice acting is bad and the lip syncing is horrible. It's so bad, it ruins the emotional moments in the game and that's really a shame, though it doesn't ruin the overall story.
At least the music's good, a nice mix of rock with very faint electronic elements.
6.0
Overall
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Despite its issues and horrible voice acting, Yakuza is a gem on the PS2 library. The story's pretty good, the gameplays fun and there's just a ton of stuff to do, so you'll defiantly get your money's worth for the game. The game is often billed as a spiritual successor to Shenmue and the game certainly feels like an improved, more action focused version of that game. Yakuza's a game, that may be hard to track down these days, but its well worth the hassle.