It would be disingenuous for me to say that the games are devoid of some of the strange plots and plot twists that are prevalent in JRPGs (and Japanese popular culture as whole), but the payoff for suffering the whiplash of a dozen surprising betrayals are stories that are mature and written for adults. Perhaps the strongest aspect of the Yakuza games has always been their stories. That’s not to say that Yakuza isn’t free of its own goofiness – every few moments, someone will try to mug you – but it’s a far cry from the extremely violent and perhaps sociopathic reality found in the GTA franchise. The Yakuza games aren’t trying to satirically represent violence in Japan, and so at no point will you walk through Kamurocho killing civilians or police officers. It would be remiss of me to ignore the Grand Theft Auto games, even if they aren’t RPGs, but all that really needs to be said is that the Yakuza games aim to be more faithful to reality than the GTA games. Suddenly a combat system that some might consider to be a mundane brawler becomes as exciting as a combat system that features giant swords or laser guns because anyone can imagine how painful it would be to be thrown head-first into a brick wall. When characters die, they die – you don’t have a mage with you that can cast a resurrection spell. The setting also grounds the story, because the player expects some sense of verisimilitude when walking through the Tokyo streets. The game doesn’t need to teach you about the effects of a specific potion or the properties of a particular type of armor. For example, you would it take for granted that body armor protects you from bullets or that sake will get you drunk. Even if you don’t know a thing about Japan, you’ll still feel comfortable in Kamurocho because of the assumptions about the real world that you bring into the game. The mainline Yakuza games stand out because they are set in Kamurocho, a fictionalized re-imagining of the glitzy entertainment district of Tokyo known as Kubukicho.Īs one of the few RPGs set in the “real” world, the player is immediately grounded in a relatable reality. Instead, I’m going to take a more comprehensive and focused look at the game, touching on the aspects of the game that I’d like other games to emulate.ġ) I consider the Yakuza games to be RPGs rather than open world sandbox games.Ģ) There will be broad spoilers in order to address the game in more than simple platitudes. I won’t be reviewing the game in the traditional sense, since there are dozens of those already. I’m hoping to remedy that by taking an in-depth look at Yakuza 4.
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