Punch Perm Pugnaciousness- Yazuka 3 Review

DesertEagle’s Take: Unlike my colleague SeanNOLA who has likely played enough of the Yakuza franchise to concern the Kobe Organized Crime Task-Force, I am a neophyte to the series. Although the episodic exploits of Kazuma Kirya’s exodus from the Japanese mob is the type of pulpy narrative I could lose myself in, I regretfully never found the time to play the first two installments in the ongoing saga. Fortunately, this isn’t a requisite for Yakuza 3 players- between the title’s extensive (and optional) background videos and in-game recollections, newcomers can easily follow the drama about to unfold.

Those new to the franchise might have more trouble classifying Yakuza 3’s gameplay, than grasping its gripping backstory. Comparisons to Japanese role-playing games or the Grand Theft Auto series are woefully reductive. The title is best thought of as a twelve chapter adventure where conflict is settled with satisfying fisticuffs, in a game world filled with a cornucopia of side content. Players can easily complete the title’s main campaign in about twenty hours and only see a small fraction of what Yakuza 3 has to offer.

Some gamers might have read about the removal of specific elements from the stateside release of the title- from the Shogi and MahJong recreations to the hostess club mini-game and Japanese history quiz. Initially, I had some concerns over the omissions, but after experiencing the variety of diversions in the title, my skepticism disappeared. From gambling amusements, golf, darts, pool, karaoke, and even a few arcade recreations, the amount of ways to spend time in Yakuza 3 is staggering.

Players who frown upon convoluted command menus and item management windows should relish Yakuza 3’s satisfying fisticuffs. As first, players start with a scant three ways to kick enemy ass, but as they persevere they’ll gain experience which can be used to unlock a myriad of new moves and combos. Once gamers master the fundamentals, they’ll be filling up their heat meter, allowing Kirya to unleash hot hell on his opponents, with a multitude of demoralizing finishing moves.  Most environments are filled with a multitude of punishing objects, allowing players to beat a foe senseless with everyday items like a bicycle tire. For those whom don’t revel in Jackie Chan-like utility, Yakuza offers an arsenal of traditional weapons, from nunchucks, knives, and even stun-guns.

While combat can be gratifying, Yakuza 3’s dependency on random battles diminishes its verve.  The streets of the Kamurocho district are teeming with street punks who unfailingly instigate fights with the game’s ostentatiously dressed protagonist; don’t these hotheads know not to interrupt a crocodile-skin wearing gent in the middle of a mission? Occasionally, sub-mission navigation could also be cumbersome, as the indicator used in main missions is inexplicably missing, causing Kazuma to wander the streets like a disoriented tourist.

If you happen to be one of those 12 individuals who struggled through the awful cameras and ridiculous hostess quests in the first 2 games, then you probably don’t need me to tell you to go out and buy the game before it becomes impossible to find.  If you have waited until the third installment to see what you’ve been missing, you picked an excellent time to jump in.  Yakuza 3 assumes that many players have not had experience with Kazuma Kiryu and comes equipped with digest movies explaining every last detail of the first two Kamurocho Adventures.  It will take about 2 hours to get caught up, but most of the character dialogue assumes you know every little detail of the events, so it’s worth the watch just to get an idea of who all of the important people are and why Kiryu isn’t punching them yet.  It is hard to summarize the topsy-turvy narrative without spoiling some of the big series reveals within the first hours of gameplay, but suffice to say that there are more twists and turns in Yakuza 3 than an entire season of Law & Order: SVU.  Once you have become a learned Yakuza scholar, you can flash to the present and start participating in an expertly told crime drama.

Many of the Yakuza series’ hallmark complaints have been masterfully dispatched in this installment.  Toshihiro Nagoshi finally gave up on the idea of fixed, cinematic camera angles and has relinquished control to the player.  Not only does this make navigating the city easier, it allows the player to better appreciate the scale of Kamurocho, and the attention to detail that went into crafting every square inch of the game.  The Virtua Fighter-inspired battle system remains fundimentally unchanged, but minor tweaks have been made to flesh out the combat.  Kazuma can now hot-swap between 3 equipped weapons, on the fly, rather than having to access a sub menu during heated battles.  Also, the heat gauge system has been expanded, which adds another layer of fast-paced strategy to every encounter.  Add to that a plethora of new weapons, moves and a new blood-physics engine, and you have the formula for a brutal battle royale!

Fanboyisms aside, Yakuza 3 is by no means a perfect game.  By now I’m sure you’ve heard that the Hostess Clubs and the History Quiz arcade game have been removed from the US release.  I can tell you from my experience with the first two titles that the great content in Yakuza 3 far outweighs the multiple-choice dating sim that was cut, but missing out on anything always feels like a raw deal.  The localization in this Yaku
za game is the best of the three, but reading page after page of unspoken text feels a little too dated for a high-budget PS3 game.  For the most part, the game looks absolutely gorgeous, but at times the visual quality can be very inconsistent.  Kiryu and other main characters are scrupulously detailed down to the most insignificant pock-marks and blemishes, while low-level thugs can sometimes look like a renegade PS2 model in comparison.  The random battle system is unchanged from previous games, but the new behind-the-back perspective often makes it difficult to escape from your pursuers when you are at Death’s Door.