In preparation for the upcoming Yakuza 5, I plan to run through every localized game in the series, starting with the first entry, which I've just completed. I didn't even hear about this franchise until probably around the time 4 was localized, so needless to say, I've got a lot to catch up on. For full transparency: I have finished the 4th game and sunk around 15 hours into the second, so this technically isn't my first rodeo. Submitted for your approval are my impressions of Yakuza, the first chapter in the story of Kazuma Kiryu.
Firstly, I'd like to address this specific game's reputation. I had heard from several people who are fans of the Yakuza franchise that the first game is rough around the edges, and that I shouldn't tailor my expectations for the series on any of its shortcomings. Maybe it's good that hearing this must've affected my enjoyment of the game, because I had a blast with the first Yakuza game. Let me break down my reaction to each asset of the game so that my thoughts can be more gathered and easier to digest.
As I've mentioned, I've already played Yakuza 4 to completion, and when I got about knee deep into Yakuza 1 it really struck me how much of what makes the combat in this series greatly satisfying is present even in the first game. Parries, sidesteps, reversals and even back-turned attacks all make each encounter really fun to experiment with. I found many of the techniques taught by the bum at Purgatory to be the most satisfying, such as the parry (L1 before an attack) and counter hold (O before an attack), although the latter proved much more difficult to execute due to the variation in startup times from enemy attacks.
It felt like the combat in this game was maybe more open-ended than it needed to be; ignoring the number of retries listed below (look, I went into the second fight with Majima without any healing items and with no health, okay?), overall the encounters felt pretty easy. Usually I would get into MORE trouble with the mindset of "I'm gonna finish this with a counter!", but it's hard to fault the game for giving you a truckload of options to play around with. Would have been nice to be given more reasons to use some of the cooler moves, though, other than that they are cool and using them is fun.
I feel the need to isolate this as I know it's a sticking point for a lot of people, and it's pretty obvious why. For those who don't know, the first Yakuza game is the only entry which received an English dub, while the rest of the games retain their Japanese dub but offer English subtitles. Even with a star-studded cast featuring Mark Hamil as The Joker as Majima and the guy who played Raiden in Metal Gear as Shinji, it's a little wonky. I wouldn't be surprised if the script was heavily altered so that the lines synced up with the character's mouths, as some of the lines are bonkers and their delivery slightly disjointed.
Also, it's a little distracting that shop-owners still speak Japanese, and that random thugs are clearly using the same voice clips, just lowered in tone for bigger characters and higher for smaller characters. Last note on this: Kage the Informant was HORRIBLY miscast. Dude sounded like an Italian mobster.
Moving on, I want to talk a little bit about the story of Yakuza 1. It does a decent enough job giving you a reason to beat up random thugs, and a lot of the cutscenes LOOK great (I'll talk a little more about that later), but it feels over-complicated and I would've liked a story with a tighter focus. Everyone's double crossing everyone, and everyone knows they're being double crossed. I killed your parents, I've always loved you, yadda yadda. It's not bad, and it serves its purpose, but I'm a little muddy on some of the plot points and overall I think the narrative was just decent. I also want to mention that Lau Ka Long's segment was weirdly brief.
The characters are a strength, however, Date and Kiryu make good "unlikely" partners and are fun to watch together. Nishiki is cool, wish we got to see him more. Kage the Florist is always cool (despite that voice actor!) and Haruka could've been really annoying, but somehow wasn't.
Yakuza looks good on PS2. I played through the game with official SONY component cables on a SANYO flat-screen CRT. I went back and forth between playing in 4:3 (which matched the TV screen) and 16:9 (black bars) before settling on the latter. It bugged me that the radar and the subtitles in cutscenes were stretched in 16:9 mode, while other UI elements such as the clan emblems were presented correctly. Small annoyance, still preferred playing in widescreen as it seems to actually give more of the picture rather than cutting off the top and bottom of it, and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes don't change aspect ratio.
Frame rate seemed really solid, I don't have any numbers but it played very smoothly in and out of battle, with occasional frame drops when exploring Kamurocho. The screen does FREEZE occasionally when transitioning from one section of the city to another, which at first is really distracting but eventually didn't bug me.
I got a little depressed while finishing this game, because honestly, I'm going to miss it. I know I've got lots more Kamurocho ahead of me, but it's not like I 100%'d the game and it feels a little bad leaving it behind as I move onto the next game. I want to tell everyone who's interested in this series: the first game isn't that expensive. It still plays great, it still looks great, and if you're starting with 3 or 4 on the PS3 and just going from there, you're going to miss out on something pretty cool.
Highly recommended.
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Number of Completed Sub Scenarios: 53
Percentage of Moves Acquired: 100%
Number of Defeated Enemies: 874
Percentage of Coin Lockers Opened: 78%
Number of Retries: 17
Number of Saves: 58
Play Time: 24:26
Firstly, I'd like to address this specific game's reputation. I had heard from several people who are fans of the Yakuza franchise that the first game is rough around the edges, and that I shouldn't tailor my expectations for the series on any of its shortcomings. Maybe it's good that hearing this must've affected my enjoyment of the game, because I had a blast with the first Yakuza game. Let me break down my reaction to each asset of the game so that my thoughts can be more gathered and easier to digest.
Combat
As I've mentioned, I've already played Yakuza 4 to completion, and when I got about knee deep into Yakuza 1 it really struck me how much of what makes the combat in this series greatly satisfying is present even in the first game. Parries, sidesteps, reversals and even back-turned attacks all make each encounter really fun to experiment with. I found many of the techniques taught by the bum at Purgatory to be the most satisfying, such as the parry (L1 before an attack) and counter hold (O before an attack), although the latter proved much more difficult to execute due to the variation in startup times from enemy attacks.
It felt like the combat in this game was maybe more open-ended than it needed to be; ignoring the number of retries listed below (look, I went into the second fight with Majima without any healing items and with no health, okay?), overall the encounters felt pretty easy. Usually I would get into MORE trouble with the mindset of "I'm gonna finish this with a counter!", but it's hard to fault the game for giving you a truckload of options to play around with. Would have been nice to be given more reasons to use some of the cooler moves, though, other than that they are cool and using them is fun.
Voice Acting
I feel the need to isolate this as I know it's a sticking point for a lot of people, and it's pretty obvious why. For those who don't know, the first Yakuza game is the only entry which received an English dub, while the rest of the games retain their Japanese dub but offer English subtitles. Even with a star-studded cast featuring Mark Hamil as The Joker as Majima and the guy who played Raiden in Metal Gear as Shinji, it's a little wonky. I wouldn't be surprised if the script was heavily altered so that the lines synced up with the character's mouths, as some of the lines are bonkers and their delivery slightly disjointed.
Also, it's a little distracting that shop-owners still speak Japanese, and that random thugs are clearly using the same voice clips, just lowered in tone for bigger characters and higher for smaller characters. Last note on this: Kage the Informant was HORRIBLY miscast. Dude sounded like an Italian mobster.
Story
Moving on, I want to talk a little bit about the story of Yakuza 1. It does a decent enough job giving you a reason to beat up random thugs, and a lot of the cutscenes LOOK great (I'll talk a little more about that later), but it feels over-complicated and I would've liked a story with a tighter focus. Everyone's double crossing everyone, and everyone knows they're being double crossed. I killed your parents, I've always loved you, yadda yadda. It's not bad, and it serves its purpose, but I'm a little muddy on some of the plot points and overall I think the narrative was just decent. I also want to mention that Lau Ka Long's segment was weirdly brief.
The characters are a strength, however, Date and Kiryu make good "unlikely" partners and are fun to watch together. Nishiki is cool, wish we got to see him more. Kage the Florist is always cool (despite that voice actor!) and Haruka could've been really annoying, but somehow wasn't.
Presentation and performance
Yakuza looks good on PS2. I played through the game with official SONY component cables on a SANYO flat-screen CRT. I went back and forth between playing in 4:3 (which matched the TV screen) and 16:9 (black bars) before settling on the latter. It bugged me that the radar and the subtitles in cutscenes were stretched in 16:9 mode, while other UI elements such as the clan emblems were presented correctly. Small annoyance, still preferred playing in widescreen as it seems to actually give more of the picture rather than cutting off the top and bottom of it, and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes don't change aspect ratio.
Frame rate seemed really solid, I don't have any numbers but it played very smoothly in and out of battle, with occasional frame drops when exploring Kamurocho. The screen does FREEZE occasionally when transitioning from one section of the city to another, which at first is really distracting but eventually didn't bug me.
Conclusion
I got a little depressed while finishing this game, because honestly, I'm going to miss it. I know I've got lots more Kamurocho ahead of me, but it's not like I 100%'d the game and it feels a little bad leaving it behind as I move onto the next game. I want to tell everyone who's interested in this series: the first game isn't that expensive. It still plays great, it still looks great, and if you're starting with 3 or 4 on the PS3 and just going from there, you're going to miss out on something pretty cool.
Highly recommended.
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The numbers
Number of Completed Sub Scenarios: 53
Percentage of Moves Acquired: 100%
Number of Defeated Enemies: 874
Percentage of Coin Lockers Opened: 78%
Number of Retries: 17
Number of Saves: 58
Play Time: 24:26
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