The Dragon Versus The Carp

Long ago, there was a carp who wished to know what was at the top of a waterfall. It swam upstream and through perseverance and hard work, it made it to the top of the waterfall. The gods were moved by the carp's determination and courage and rewarded the carp by transforming it into a dragon. To encourage the other carps, the gods created a gate at the top of the waterfall. Any carp who jumps over this gate shall be instantly transformed into a dragon. Yet, what happens when a dragon befriends a carp? What if the carp betrays the dragon, and the dragon loses its place at the top of the waterfall? If a carp can be transformed into a dragon by reaching the top of the waterfall, will a dragon be transformed into a carp if it falls from that very waterfall?

I have to start by explaining my mindset when I was playing Yakuza. I had just beat Indigo Prophecy, a game I was expecting to have an amazingly well written story. I was right, for only the first half of the game and then it all went downhill. When I popped in Yakuza, I wasn't expecting much. Everyone called it a Japanese Grand Theft Auto and a simple arcade brawler. By the time I finished the game, I was blown away by the complexity of the story and the characters. There were plot twists and character revelations that I never saw coming . . . and unlike Indigo Prophecy were actually believable and made perfect sense. I can honestly say that Yakuza has one of the best video game stories I have ever played.

You are Kiriyu Kazuma, an up and coming member of the Dojima Family, a Tojo Clan affiliate. In all honesty, I can't really mention that much of the story without spoiling it. I can, however, repeat what has printed on the back of the box. Kiriyu Kazuma is known as the Dragon of Dojima until he goes to prison for the murder of Dojima Sohei, the leader of the Dojima Family. After ten years, he is finally released and finds that his best friend, Nishiki Akira, filled the spot he vacated after going to prison and the Tojo Clan in disarray. Kazuma also finds that his girlfriend, Sawamura Yumi, and ten Billion yen are missing. Of course, Kazuma takes on the task of finding out what happened during his ten year absent.

Yakuza is basically a brawler . . . punch, kick, slam bad guy's (sometimes good guy's) head into pavement, repeat. The gameplay seems like it could become repetitive if it wasn't for the RPGesque style of leveling and the ability to learn new styles of fighting through training. Throughout the story, you'll find yourself greatly outnumbered and have to fight your way through hordes of baddies. There's also the boss fights which can be extremely difficult at times. I found the controls pretty intuitive, the only major pain is that the camera doesn't always want to show you your enemy. You can use a variety of weapons, but I found it more satisfying to beat up people with my own two fists.

There is so much to do in Yakuza, everything from hitting the batting cages, playing some blackjack, going to the arcade, blowing all your money at a hostess bar, and beating up the frequent street punks that you find on every street corner. There are a variety of side missions as well as the main story which took me about fourteen hours to complete. While the story is thrilling and dark, you'll find yourself wondering what happened to your "bad boy" attitude when it comes to the side missions. Running errands for little old men, catching a purse thief, and other missions will have you wondering if you are a "Dragon" or an errand boy. There are even some eyebrow raising moments in the main story as well, including a chapter entitled "Save the Puppy!" . . . you'll just have to play it to find out what that means.

For the cons in the game, the fighting does get a bit boring at times considering that you get jumped every ten steps you take. Navigating Kamurocho (in real life known as Kabukichou) can be a bit hard at first, especially when key locations have multiple names. Then, there is the biggest con of all, at least for me anyway. In the entire game, I counted roughly a dozen sentences that didn't use the "F" word in it. The swearing in the game is grotesque, dropping the "F" bomb in almost every sentence and most of the time dropping it multiple times in a single sentence. One character uses it twenty times in his five minute dialogue. With voice acting from Eliza Dushku, Mark Hamill, and Rachael Leigh Cook - you'd think that the voice acting and content would have been better. If you can overlook the horrific language and repetitive gameplay, the story will be enough to keep you glued to this game.

While I wish I could expand more on all the reasons I love this game, I simply can't without ruining all the amazing twists and unexpected turns that this game offers up. All I can say is that half-way through the game I thought I had everything figured out then suddenly, they threw me for a loop and gave me a second half that I never saw coming. Delving into the Yakuza underworld is thrilling, dark, and filled with suspense. With a mystery to solve and a colorful cast of characters, this game is truly by far the best story driven game I've played on the PS2. Yakuza truly shows why the Dragon reigns supreme.

Qwarktastic Qwest!

• Title: Yakuza
• Developer: Sega
• Publisher: Sega
• ESRB: Mature
• Original Release Date: 09.05.06
• Original Platform: PS2