From 10minuets to 4 hours of game play= A Big Ball of Confusion.

User Rating: 6.9 | Ryuu ga Gotoku PS2
By Reticent85 | Review Date:
I cant lie, when I first played Yakuza my very thoughts were, "what crap did I just buy?!" Sticking to my guns and not wanting to judge a game by the first 10 minuets of game play, I trudged on and decided to play through. The further I got into the story I soon began to see a rather intense and emotional storyline play out. But when you first play and your first encounter is, "HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! I DONT LIKE THE WAY YOUR FACE LOOKS YOU ARROGANT BLANK BLANK BLANKETY BLANK! LOOKIN AT ME YOU SMUG BLANK IMA SHOW YOU!" Just walking down the street minding my own business then *BOOM* im thrown into the seedy world of Yakuza… it seemed extremely unnecessary. But you get passed that aspect of the game very quick. The initial story is very basic, you play as Kazuma Kiryu a former Yakuza, you get sent to prison for 10 years after taking the fall for a best friend who is more like your brother since you two grew up in the same orphanage. You get out of prison 10 years later and realize that your clan (The ToJo Clan) has had 10 billion yen stolen from them and to top it off your girlfriend goes missing. And there you have it. The way the story is actually told and expressed is nothing short of epic. For the majority of the time you wont be playing this game out of Oooh and Awww for in-depth dialogue; quite the contrary you may actually pick up a few new curse words. But as you play through and as the story line opens up, there are certain cinemas that just twist your feelings about the game. One major factor is a little girl by the name of Haruka, her back story is that she is an orphan and you being the big hearted ex-gang-member--orphan just feel the need to help her out. Her innocents and your need to protect her puts some warmth into a city that would otherwise eat you up and spit you out. And that's exactly how it plays out. From her sunny disposition to the way she calls you Uncle Kazuma simply because you protect her.

Throughout the game there are shady areas of business from brothels to black market weapon shops under the cleaver rouse of your everyday wholesome porn shop. As I interact with the iki iki girls at the bars, im having a great time trying to get them to fall in love with me....Then Haruka comes into the picture and certain actions that you do will raise or lower her respect for you. One night I thought "Huh, maybe I'll go spend time with the gals." And just before I walked into the dive you have the option to go in and leave Haruka outside in the dark cold, surrounded by hoodlums, gang members and prostitutes. Or you can be a good "Uncle Kazuma" and get her some ice cream and take her home. I thought to myself that this is no place for a little girl thus I didnt go into the dive and took Haruka home.....then went back. At the given point in time I legitimately didnt want to leave Haruka all alone outside so I didnt go in. When the gameplay gets deep enough to where you make a personal moral decision, that says something about the game. Minor things like that, which spark emotion that you wouldnt initially think this game could do....Following cinemas further increase your relationship with Haruka and other members of people you hold dear and many of the cinematic breaks were done beyond what I was going to expect.

The Good: Fun game play with an unexpected nurturing quality that radiates as you play.

The Bad: Play style does get linear fight after fight. The initial city could have been larger with more mini adventures to explore....Yakuza felt like Shenmue just without the city depth.

Overall its no big blockbuster and its not the worst game in the world. But I can see how many people whom come to play this game will either hate it or love it between the first 10 minuets to 4 hours of game play.

Other Helpful Reviews for Ryuu ga Gotoku

Load Comments (0)