The Yakuza video games are the best video games that North American gamers have most likely never played.
When the first Yakuza video games were released for the PlayStation 2 in the mid-2000s, the games struggled to gain a solid audience over in North America, but still had a smaller cult following. With the release of Yakuza 0 in 2017, the remakes of Yakuza 1 and 2 after that, and the positive reception that came with those games, it seems like the Yakuza games now have the exposure to the wide North American audience that the games deserved.
My first exposure to the series was playing Yakuza 0, which is the prequel to the events of the Yakuza games. If I was going to dive into this series, I need to start at the first canonical game of the series. When I first played Yakuza 0, the quality of the storytelling blew me away. The stories of Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima's rise within the ranks of the Tojo Clan is a fascinating and completely different tale for North American audiences when compared to similar games in the action-adventure genre. The high standard of storytelling continues in the other Yakuza games where most of the focus in on Kiryu and his tumultuous relationship with the Tojo Clan while having to defend himself from other Yakuza families and other external influences that threaten the peace. The Yakuza games do a great job of fleshing out the characters by showing each character's motivations and emotions, contributing to the excellence of the storytelling. The cinematography is excellent, especially when the camera rapidly zooms into a character's face for emphasis. There are also many twists and turns of the story as well which keep the gamer intrigued and on the edge of their seat, and there is a great detail of explanation of any story points that may be confusing to the gamer.
The best thing about the Yakuza games is the side content. There are the numerous side missions (called Substories) that Kiryu can take part in, and there are many mini-games and other side content for you to explore. Yakuza's side missions are better than any other side missions that any other video game have. Where Yakuza's story has a serious tone, Yakuza's side missions are usually goofy and ridiculous. In the main story, there is the presentation of Kiryu as a stoic, serious figure, while in the side missions; there is the presentation of Kiryu in a more carefree, humorous way. In the side missions, Kiryu gets involved in obscene and absurd situations that he needs to right, such as buying a new pair of underwear for a man in a public bathroom after an unfortunate accident on the toilet. The side missions help to flesh out and build Kiryu's character by having him display an even wider range of emotions in response to the situations that require his involvement.
There are also detailed, layered game modes within the Yakuza games that provide a nice distraction to the main story. You can run your own cabaret club, partake in building your own baseball team, or start your own real estate business, just to name a few examples. With the larger pieces of side content, there are also other fun mini-games to do such as play casino games, sing karaoke, or go test your swing at the batting cages. Each piece of side content has its own unique game mechanics that diversify the game experience.
I liked the 'smaller is better' approach of the open world of the Yakuza games. Games like Grand Theft Auto have large open worlds, but also a large amount of dead space as well. The entire open world of Kamurocho in Yakuza is only about the size of a few city blocks (which makes for easy traversing), but there are so many interactive things packed into this open world, which I feel gives the world more of a sense of purpose than larger game worlds.
The actual combat of the Yakuza games is a lot of fun, but is also quite repetitive. I quickly grew tired of running into groups of enemies and then having to beat them senseless. However, I do like the concept of the 'Heat Action' where when your heat meter reaches a certain point; you can execute even more damaging moves to your enemies. There are many Heat Actions to perform, and they can range from extremely violent, to extremely hilarious.
The Yakuza video games are so brilliant because they are video games full of contradictions, and it works so well. The games can be significant, and comical. The games can be momentous, and ludicrous. It is in those contradictions within the story and the side content is what also make the Yakuza games so captivating. Yakuza is an engrossing profile into an organization that is usually so secretive, and the video games are a landmark in video game history. More people need to play these games. More people need to experience this story. More people need to be as shocked as I was when I first started playing the Yakuza games.
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