First Impressions:

Yakuza is a game of contrasts. Inside the game is a compelling movie feature-length story unfolding as you play. At its heart is a a fighting game from the PS2's heyday. Unfortunately we aren't expecting fighting games from five years ago anymore. This is great franchise that I would like to see more of on a next gen console that can handle both the graphic depth of the vast Yakuza underground world as well as having a dynamic fighting engine. Making this game a PS2 exclusive wasn't the best choice. Yakuza 2 is already out in Japan, but it may never come here.

As it is, the flaws may overcome the strengths in most cases. But what kept me playing in spite of the annoying and unforgivable flaws was the novel. This is a game that requires patience. If you are enough of a Japanese genre fan to have dealt with some of the other pesky titles like the Fatal Frame and Siren games then you know what is in store for you. This title might only suit the fandom and be a rental for anyone else.

Gameplay:

The major problems with the game are with the gameplay itself. It was very disappointing. At first you are given a training mission and simple button press sequences eventually become better combo moves as Kazuma gains levels. there are so many interesting little details in the game that make it almost so good. It almost makes you love it for the potential that you can see it has. The HP restoration is a combination of points from fighting as well as consuming food. Your character can stop in for a Bento box or a beef noodle bowl to increase experience points as well as refilling the health meter. Vitamins, juice and medicines can be purchases at several colorful variety stores and restaurants.

Kazuma fights mostly with a very limited range of martial arts moves. In the game he has the reputation of being a champion the "Dojima Dragon" but his mechanics are worse that the lame fight engine in Urban Reign. It just doesn't work with the story to have such a badly done fighter playing as this legendary Yakuza. The game has been compared to Grand Theft Auto, but it is nothing like it. Kazuma doesn't have weapons. He can pick up items from the environment including swords as well as sign posts, grave stones, lanterns and lead pipes but he doesn't keep an arsenal and rarely has access to any guns. Travel is strictly on foot.

There are many save points so that doesn't become an issue, even though the character has to walk or run everywhere. In the game, one of the beginning levels is what many websites have called "the worst stealth sequence in all of gaming". I agreed for an afternoon and almost threw in the towel at that point. But then I realized what the cryptic clues in the game meant. You have to try to blend in at the infamous funeral. You go up to one group after another and chat with them, timing it so that the guards don't nab you. Believe it or not this insufferable level is solved by you actually waltzing right in through the front door.

The other major problem is with the controls. Kazuma can't jump or climb. The camera control that is usually mapped to the right analog stick instead moves the view on the mini-map. It is completely useless. In a fighting sequence there is not auto targeting, in fact there is no targeting at all. Three punches out of four will go off into thin air while the enemies turn their heads. You don't lose because the enemy AI is particularly smart, you lose because your character won't face them to fight. When you are walking down the street you may not be able to see or distinguish where your character is. The oddball locked camera angles make getting around in a city with street signs that are all in Japanese a challenge. The perspective is reverse axis so up is down and down is up. Trying to run from one mission to the next is irritating. You run into random street fights over and over and they aren't easy to avoid when you are in a hurry to complete something.

Gameplay gets repetitive fast. When you get into a fight there is a title screen that will say "VS.Street Hoodlums" or whoever, then another screen where the enemies are letter-boxed, then there is a still shot, and then you fight. Essentially you can go to the bathroom while it is loading a fight.

Articles on WomenGamers.Com solely reflect the experiences and perspectives of the author(s). Feel free to agree or disagree in the accompanying forum thread.