As a massive fan of the Yakuza series I decided to try and give Kurohyou a try after finishing all the mainline games and most of the spin offs. Now I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect getting into it, but I felt like I was in for a decent experience. I can gladly say after completing the game, this is by far one of the most unexpected surprises I’ve ever had when it comes to games I’ve played. Kurohyou didn’t seem like much at first but it left me just as invested as some of the better installments in the entire series. This game deserves more attention then it has.
Once I began the game, I noticed how despite it being on more limited hardware, the experience still felt like a complete Yakuza game. It takes after the PS2 games the most when it comes to the world and honestly I think it keeps the feeling of Kamurocho just as well. Nothing seems lost at all and if I were told that this was actually a PS2 entry without prior knowledge, I would’ve believed it. They didn’t make it feel more empty or cut noticeably large areas at all. In fact I enjoyed the jobs they added in Kamurocho because it also adds to that feeling that you’re part of the city. Now you will notice the reused NPC models more than the other games but that’s never really stopped my immersion. The only thing that I felt was off about the world was the substories but that’s only because most of them felt really similar to each other. A lot of them were forgettable to me and they felt like they didn’t add much else to the world. There’s still some decent substories though that stopped Kamurocho from feeling like it’s lacking in personality in this title. I enjoyed going through Kamurocho just as much as the other games, although with a bit more intrigue from how they handled it on a PSP.
As for the gameplay, I believe that this is definitely what caught me off guard the most. The combat takes a different approach, putting a higher emphasis on fighting enemies one at a time like a fighting game. Due to this direction, something about every fight felt more personal than usual and it works to its advantage. Every single boss fight felt like you put in two starving wolves in a cage that were forced to fight for survival. Every single punch, kick, and grab had a slightly heavier weight to them than normal, which I thought compliments the one-on-one style because when you land a good hit, it feels like you really put your opponent out. On top of that, everything you do is something that your opponent can do to you which makes the back and forth feel more eccentric. There’s 20 styles in the game but I feel like the thrill of the fight always carries over when you find a good opponent. Although I do have a few criticisms, starting with the grabs. The grabs are extremely powerful in this game, and although you and your opponents are supposed to be on equal grounds it always feels like the one who can get more grabs in always has the advantage. This issue isn’t as big on bosses considering they seem to do a better job at not getting grabbed but the majority of the time you won’t be fighting bosses. Another thing, is that the heavy attacks that require a rotation of the D-Pad seem less viable in my opinion due to how enemies either always block it or parry it if they’re barrages of punches or kicks. The last criticism I have that doesn’t bug me as much is that I feel like some fighting styles don’t feel different enough to feel satisfying sometimes. As an example, the weapon mania style just feels like a worse version of the street brawler style with minor differences, which only ends up making a few styles feel a bit repetitive to use. Other than that, the combat in the game is definitely one of the most satisfying in the franchise. It’s a welcome change that I can see many people enjoying.
The last segment I’d like to talk about is the story and characters. At first it felt sort of similar to Tanimura’s story in Yakuza 4 with how I wasn’t too invested from the beginning and I didn’t enjoy the protagonists. Just like Yakuza 4 though, I soon came to love both Tatsuya and the story the longer it went on. Tatsuya seemed like a superficial asshole at the beginning. I really wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him by the end of the game, especially with the shorter length of the story. Despite the story being shorter though, they nailed Tatsuya’s development with what they had. Some might say that it’s a bit too quick in pace but I was fine with the pacing. Seeing such an unlikeable douche go on to become a respectable and likable character felt satisfying to see. Now the side characters and antagonists I didn’t feel were as complex (except maybe Taizan, Tenma, and Hyuga) but I still cared for them a good deal. Seeing Tatsuya interact with Taizan and Saki never got boring to me. I could say the same about Kuki. As Tatsuya came to find a reason for why he fights, it also was more entertaining to see these conversations with everyone play out. Hell even most of the bosses I found myself feeling strongly about despite them usually being gone after a chapter or two. I do think they maybe should have put less emphasis on a few to make certain ones more prominent characters but I’m still happy with what we got. The story starts off weak but when it kicks up, it carries that momentum almost to the end. I never expected the story to be this captivating. Sadly I do think that the ending just felt a bit flat in my opinion. There was a lot of build up and strong emotions with what happens to these characters but I feel like when the real final antagonist is revealed, he just didn’t live up to the build up. The ending fight was really good but to be honest the weight of the fight wasn’t anywhere near the earlier fights just due to how the events of the story at this point weren’t as strong. I don’t know how to explain this but there wasn’t that much characterization to warrant a drive to destroy them. They could’ve benefited from a longer focus on them, starting from potentially chapter 6 because as is, at the end of the day they just felt like bad guys that needed to be stopped but not much more. Although I do think the rest of the story is very good that the ending won’t be too much of a bother for people.
Overall, I highly recommend people play Kurohyou. There may be a lot of skepticism considering how different it is but this really deserves to be called an overlooked gem of a game. Kurohyou is a hell of an experience and a surprise that I’m glad I got around to playing.
Once I began the game, I noticed how despite it being on more limited hardware, the experience still felt like a complete Yakuza game. It takes after the PS2 games the most when it comes to the world and honestly I think it keeps the feeling of Kamurocho just as well. Nothing seems lost at all and if I were told that this was actually a PS2 entry without prior knowledge, I would’ve believed it. They didn’t make it feel more empty or cut noticeably large areas at all. In fact I enjoyed the jobs they added in Kamurocho because it also adds to that feeling that you’re part of the city. Now you will notice the reused NPC models more than the other games but that’s never really stopped my immersion. The only thing that I felt was off about the world was the substories but that’s only because most of them felt really similar to each other. A lot of them were forgettable to me and they felt like they didn’t add much else to the world. There’s still some decent substories though that stopped Kamurocho from feeling like it’s lacking in personality in this title. I enjoyed going through Kamurocho just as much as the other games, although with a bit more intrigue from how they handled it on a PSP.
As for the gameplay, I believe that this is definitely what caught me off guard the most. The combat takes a different approach, putting a higher emphasis on fighting enemies one at a time like a fighting game. Due to this direction, something about every fight felt more personal than usual and it works to its advantage. Every single boss fight felt like you put in two starving wolves in a cage that were forced to fight for survival. Every single punch, kick, and grab had a slightly heavier weight to them than normal, which I thought compliments the one-on-one style because when you land a good hit, it feels like you really put your opponent out. On top of that, everything you do is something that your opponent can do to you which makes the back and forth feel more eccentric. There’s 20 styles in the game but I feel like the thrill of the fight always carries over when you find a good opponent. Although I do have a few criticisms, starting with the grabs. The grabs are extremely powerful in this game, and although you and your opponents are supposed to be on equal grounds it always feels like the one who can get more grabs in always has the advantage. This issue isn’t as big on bosses considering they seem to do a better job at not getting grabbed but the majority of the time you won’t be fighting bosses. Another thing, is that the heavy attacks that require a rotation of the D-Pad seem less viable in my opinion due to how enemies either always block it or parry it if they’re barrages of punches or kicks. The last criticism I have that doesn’t bug me as much is that I feel like some fighting styles don’t feel different enough to feel satisfying sometimes. As an example, the weapon mania style just feels like a worse version of the street brawler style with minor differences, which only ends up making a few styles feel a bit repetitive to use. Other than that, the combat in the game is definitely one of the most satisfying in the franchise. It’s a welcome change that I can see many people enjoying.
The last segment I’d like to talk about is the story and characters. At first it felt sort of similar to Tanimura’s story in Yakuza 4 with how I wasn’t too invested from the beginning and I didn’t enjoy the protagonists. Just like Yakuza 4 though, I soon came to love both Tatsuya and the story the longer it went on. Tatsuya seemed like a superficial asshole at the beginning. I really wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him by the end of the game, especially with the shorter length of the story. Despite the story being shorter though, they nailed Tatsuya’s development with what they had. Some might say that it’s a bit too quick in pace but I was fine with the pacing. Seeing such an unlikeable douche go on to become a respectable and likable character felt satisfying to see. Now the side characters and antagonists I didn’t feel were as complex (except maybe Taizan, Tenma, and Hyuga) but I still cared for them a good deal. Seeing Tatsuya interact with Taizan and Saki never got boring to me. I could say the same about Kuki. As Tatsuya came to find a reason for why he fights, it also was more entertaining to see these conversations with everyone play out. Hell even most of the bosses I found myself feeling strongly about despite them usually being gone after a chapter or two. I do think they maybe should have put less emphasis on a few to make certain ones more prominent characters but I’m still happy with what we got. The story starts off weak but when it kicks up, it carries that momentum almost to the end. I never expected the story to be this captivating. Sadly I do think that the ending just felt a bit flat in my opinion. There was a lot of build up and strong emotions with what happens to these characters but I feel like when the real final antagonist is revealed, he just didn’t live up to the build up. The ending fight was really good but to be honest the weight of the fight wasn’t anywhere near the earlier fights just due to how the events of the story at this point weren’t as strong. I don’t know how to explain this but there wasn’t that much characterization to warrant a drive to destroy them. They could’ve benefited from a longer focus on them, starting from potentially chapter 6 because as is, at the end of the day they just felt like bad guys that needed to be stopped but not much more. Although I do think the rest of the story is very good that the ending won’t be too much of a bother for people.
Overall, I highly recommend people play Kurohyou. There may be a lot of skepticism considering how different it is but this really deserves to be called an overlooked gem of a game. Kurohyou is a hell of an experience and a surprise that I’m glad I got around to playing.