I somehow come to think that most games that take place in Japan have a tendency to be poisoned to the point that a great idea turns into a great catastrophe. However, Yakuza was thankfully not one of these Japanese games. Despite some flaws, I feel this game held up pretty well. Now this is coming from a gamer who enjoys settings taking place in Japan and stories based on Japan. Shenmue was by far the best in my personal opinion, and Yakuza has some very similar qualities. The characters graphics were just above average but the city lights and buildings were awesome. The cut-scenes where pretty cool too. The size of the city was impressive considering there were lots of places and people to find. The voice acting wasn't too bad, but I would have preferred it in ***. w/subtitles. The violence and language is enough to satisfy any person who loves games where you get to punish people over and over again. The battle system was simple and enjoyable, although you tended to fight the same gangsters over and over again. The repetition got annoying unless you really wanted to power up and get more money to buy expensive items. I enjoyed a lot of the characters and the boss fights as well. Overall, I would find this game to turn a lot of people who do not enjoy foreign culture and repetition. I liked a lot of little things: bars and getting drunk, weapons, fighting styles and moves, massage parlors, and many other things. I would recommend this game as a rental at first based upon your tastes.
Paraphrased. This game freaking rules! It's the bastard child of Shenmue, GTA and River City Ransom - complete with buying wacky food at restaurants for healing, XP, and getting armor & stuff at pawn shops. I coul... Read Full Review
Most video games we've seen over the years have always been Mafia games based on the Italian Mafia through various parts of America. But we never hear much of other Mafia games until Sega released Yakuza which was releas... Read Full Review
