Who know Japanese people could be so American
The truth is that Yakuza IS a beat 'em up (and not a bad one at that), but it's also very repetitve and suffers from massive loading times. Not only that but the game is full of more cursing than a Sopranos season. Literally, just about every other word is a cuss word. I'm not complaining about that because i cuss a lot for no reason at all, but it seems to kill the story by adding bad words instead of a captivating plot. I honestly didn't know that Yakuza members would cuss that much. This is Japan...not America.
The streets are full of life and you'll stopped a lot to have a fight with some people which causes, again, long load times. The constant barrage of fights wouldn't be so bad if the lock-on system was done better. You'll often find yourself trying to lock-on to someone only to find yourself strafing in the opposite direction. On the plus side, it isn't hard to learn to fight, but it is easy to get hit.
The plot is o.k. It's a standard "wrongly imprisoned main character does his time only to come back to a place where his best friend has become the bad guy and wants to settle things while erasing his past". It's been done before but it still keeps us entertained even if it's just a little.
However, the game isn't so bad as there are redeeming qualities that bring it up to par. The fights, although tedious, do reward you with lots of cash, so you never have to worry about loosing a lot of money. If you find yourself low on cash, just beat the crap out of someone and you'll be fine. It's also very awesome that just about everything becomes a fighting weapon. I can't tell you how many times i've laughed by throwing a bike at someone, picking up an entire table and whacking someone with it, and killing someone with a chair like an old-fashioned bar fight. Also, you'll get to do special attacks (although not many at first) where you can take a large dose of health off an enemy by doing something like smashing his face into a wall.
The level up system is also good since it introduces an element hardly seen in a beat 'em up by using experience to unlock fighting techniques, bigger health, and just all around goodness. The world in Yakuza is so full of life. Streets are crowded with people that will talk to you or even yell at you if you bump into them. There also plenty of activities to keep you entertained for a while (though i would've loved to see more).
All in all, Yakuza really isn't that bad of game. If you have high hopes for it, rent it first. If not, then it's worth a buy.