Kazuma Kiryu is back and badder than ever. Chuck Norris bows to this guy.
Kazuma Kiryu is the former head of the Tokyo’s Tojo clan, one of the more powerful yakuza families. After spending some time in the slammer to take a fall for his friend, Kiryu came out to find things a little different. And then a whole bunch of stuff happens with people dying, the Chinese triads, billions of yen, a gang war with the southern yakuza.
Sound complicated? Thankfully, like its predecessor, Yakuza 3 includes video summaries of the previous games on the disc to catch up anyone just joining. Missing the first two isn’t an excuse for missing this one. The video summaries only serve to ramp up the feeling that this is isn’t as much a game as it is a foreign film. Yakuza isn’t going to dethrone The Godfather: Part IIas the ultimate gangster movie, but a great cast of believable characters, beautiful cut scenes, and great writing and acting all go a long way.
A few years after the last game, Kazuma Kiryu has brought his dream of starting an orphanage to fruition, leading an easy life working day-by-day with a group of children just off an Okinawa beach. It must be the only beach on the island not jam-packed with tourists. Only it’s Kazuma Kiryu we’re talking about here, so despite his best efforts, things will not last. There are some big deals going on behind the scenes of Japanese politics and they happen to rest right on (and a mile around) the orphanage, planned as the site of a massive resort and military base. Yes, that sounds like a weird pairing. Worse yet, someone shot Tojo chairman Dojima Daigo during attempts to acquire the land. Much to his chagrin, Kiryu is forced to get involved to protect his orphanage and save his friend. Not to mention discovering the identity of the man that shot Daigo.
Something worth addressing right away is the parts that have been removed from the game. It’s not exactly what gamers want, but it’s not worth the so-called nerd rage that washes across the interwebs when something Japanese is even slightly modified during its transition to the US. “zomg teh cover art is 2mm off!” “I DISAPPROVE OF THIS ENGLISH VOICE ACTOR THAT THE JAPANESE DIRECTOR CHOSE BECAUSE THEY SPEAK ENGLISH!” All conversations had a thousand times before. So first, what’s missing? Mahjong, Shogi, some side-missions probably having to do with those, a trivia game, and the hostess clubs. Most gamers won’t miss any of those, though I personally like mahjong and probably would’ve put a few hours into it as I did in Yakuza 2. It seems like the translation team could’ve just used the localization from Yakuza 2 to make it work. The hostess clubs and trivia show are both Japanese-specific enough that they would’ve taken forever to translate and yet would remain difficult for American audiences to grasp. If anyone over here would get that stuff however, it’s exactly the audience that’s most likely to buy this game.
Here’s a profile of the typical (theoretical) Yakuza player. The player probably has some experience with Japanese language and culture. Some manga and anime, of course, but also Japanese film. They know exactly who Takashi Miike is, they probably own a few Beat Takeshi movies. They know that the Kamurocho district is based on Kabukicho and they know that going there in real life is probably a poor idea. They know what a hostess club is, and even more they might be familiar with the adult actress that plays one of the hostess’ voices. In short, they’re going to get all the stuff missing, know it’s missing, and be unhappy that it’s missing. This may or may not sound like a certain reviewer here at Kombo (i.e., the author).
That said, if no one had been told it was missing, it would have been a while before anyone noticed until they wandered into the mahjong parlor to drop some PON and RON on some bitches (Pon and Ron are mahjong terms). The game doesn’t suffer in the least for the stuff removed; a lot of it is just fat carved off.
Now onto what is in the game. In short, it’s exactly what Yakuza fans expect and it’s awesome. The story is intricate and fun to follow, the voice acting and cinematics are both top-notch. Sega still makes good games! They just waver between not releasing them and not marketing them here.
The cites of Kamurocho (Tokyo’s seedier district) and Ryukyu (downtown Okinawa) are both fun to wander around. If Kazuma’s niece Haruka is following along, she encourages him to slow down and spend some time with her. Walk slowly enough, and she’ll hold his hand as the two walk, and it adds some more depth to Kiryu as well as giving the player a chance to see how incredibly detailed the city really is. Strolling around the city reveals a truckload of activities, almost all of them optional, to enjoy. Gamble in a variety of Western and Japanese games of chance (Koi Koi hanafuda is one of the better options), hone Kazuma’s fighting skills, eat at any number of restaurants, search for locker keys, pick up women at Smile Burger. That’s right; the invincible former head of the Tojo crime family is picking up women in line at the local burger joint.
ANYWAY.
As with most RPG protagonists, there’s something about Kazuma; every punk in the city just can’t help themselves when they see him. Every yakuza or gang member he passes just has to try to mug or blackmail the guy and always ends up getting stomped in the face for it. It’s okay though, because the combat is a lot of fun. Yakuza‘s mechanics land somewhere between hardcore brawler and Japanese-style RPG. Yakuza has items, weapons, leveling, armor, but all of that lies on top of a solid real-time fighting engine. Yakuza is sometimes referred to as a successor to Shenmue, and the fighting system shows off that lineage. A great mix of strong and light attacks, combos, and weapons (both carried and found) keep combat fresh, and the occasional quick timer mixed in adds some visual flair to the whole thing. Compared to Yakuza 2, the combat is very easy even on normal difficulty; Kazuma isn’t prying himself off the pavement nearly as often has he did last game. The only time most players will see a continue screen follows some failed chase sequences that felt a bit broken, but were ultimately fairly short.
While the game isn’t missing much without the content Sega removed, there is something missing. That is, the ending. Sure, the end is fairly satisfying, but there were a few threads left hanging that should’ve been addressed. They don’t seem like they’ll be touched in Yakuza 4 either. For example, there’s this huge deal about the guy who shot Daigo looking like Kiryu’s adoptive father. Once Kazuma starts working with him, he helps figure out what’s going on and starts things moving toward the climax: a battle to save Daigo in the Tokyo hospital. Then he disappears, never to be seen again. A powerful politician named Tamiya only appears once despite his big role in the complex plot. There’s really no epilogue for anyone except Kazuma Kiryu, and it just feels very abrupt.
The Rundown
Kazuma Kiryu’s story is more fun and better looking than it’s ever been. The fighting and exploring are solid and stay fresh the whole way through. Even a bit of cut content can’t keep the game from being an engaging brawler and RPG with one of the most engaging stories around. Yakuza isn’t going to make any game of the year lists. For its fans though, this is one of the big ones worth remembering and talking about. It’s great fun all the way through and it proves that Sega is still a game company even if their Sonic games suggest otherwise. Absolutely check this one out and spread the word. Sega sure didn’t bother.
