In Yakuza you play as Kazama Kiryu, one tough ass yakuza who used to extort people in order to get what he's told to by his clan's boss. One day he gets in prison for something he didn't do. After getting out of it, the same city that had forgot about his existence during those 10 years in prison suddenly revolves around him and pretty much every interaction within the Kabuki-chō district is the same: someone approaches you acting all mighty and you fight.
Everyone, inside and outside the game, knows the yakuza are bad; but you know, Kiryu is different because he doesn't only protect his loved ones, but also a random kid he finds -though he fights in front of her like it's ok to do so-. In fact, all you do in the game is beat the shit out of anyone who comes near you, doesn't matter who that is or what the situation actually demands. This apples to pretty much anything in the game. But what bothers me is how biased it is: different people are portrayed and judged differently for doing the same exact thing. For * sake, they're all * Yakuza.
Finally, since this always happens, I'm going to address it directly: even though one could argue that the game shouldn’t be taken so seriously since there’s all these fun, hilarious quests and situations spread throughout all of Kabuki-chō, but I’d say the game itself makes a really clear distinction between all of that and what’s actually important. And honestly it’s not like you can just judge both things separately, they’re two sides of the same coin.
Everyone, inside and outside the game, knows the yakuza are bad; but you know, Kiryu is different because he doesn't only protect his loved ones, but also a random kid he finds -though he fights in front of her like it's ok to do so-. In fact, all you do in the game is beat the shit out of anyone who comes near you, doesn't matter who that is or what the situation actually demands. This apples to pretty much anything in the game. But what bothers me is how biased it is: different people are portrayed and judged differently for doing the same exact thing. For * sake, they're all * Yakuza.
Finally, since this always happens, I'm going to address it directly: even though one could argue that the game shouldn’t be taken so seriously since there’s all these fun, hilarious quests and situations spread throughout all of Kabuki-chō, but I’d say the game itself makes a really clear distinction between all of that and what’s actually important. And honestly it’s not like you can just judge both things separately, they’re two sides of the same coin.
4 Comments
I thought about it, but honestly those dramas tend to be about revenge, honor and all that stuff (Yakuza 1 does this in the beginning too), not exactly trying to be merciful and thoughtful about any of their characters, which is the problem I have with the game. Not only that but it has a romanticized, almost childish vision about some of the most fucked up parts of Japanese society (and society in general, they’re the mafia after all). Come on, the yakuza are not cool people.
yakuza is bad because kiryu is cancelled
You didn't understand anything @Liquidrocks
Baka_Ouji
3 years ago