Yakuza 1 has a good foundation for building a future series.
The fighting is weighty and violent, the characters are likeable and memorable, and the story builds intrigue easily.
Issue is, the combat also has a feeling of stiffness, where you're either trapping an enemy in the corner and beating them to paste, or you're constantly swinging at air because there's no real lock-on or tracking for your punches. You'll also be getting into a lot of random fights, hearing the same generic dialogue, and executing the same combos.
The story is much the same way. It starts real strong, setting up pieces and intrigue and motivations, but just when it's reeling you in and you think you're about to get payoff it throws you into a series of fetch quests to pad for time and that promised payoff turns into a "Our Princess is in another castle" scenario. The characters I thought were going to be the main antagonists take a backseat in the final act, as it introduces a character out of nowhere to exposit how he was the mastermind all along.
Kiryu is an immediately likeable protagonist, and I hope many of the characters that actually survive the finale stick around for sequels.
Like I said it's a good foundation.
The fighting is weighty and violent, the characters are likeable and memorable, and the story builds intrigue easily.
Issue is, the combat also has a feeling of stiffness, where you're either trapping an enemy in the corner and beating them to paste, or you're constantly swinging at air because there's no real lock-on or tracking for your punches. You'll also be getting into a lot of random fights, hearing the same generic dialogue, and executing the same combos.
The story is much the same way. It starts real strong, setting up pieces and intrigue and motivations, but just when it's reeling you in and you think you're about to get payoff it throws you into a series of fetch quests to pad for time and that promised payoff turns into a "Our Princess is in another castle" scenario. The characters I thought were going to be the main antagonists take a backseat in the final act, as it introduces a character out of nowhere to exposit how he was the mastermind all along.
Kiryu is an immediately likeable protagonist, and I hope many of the characters that actually survive the finale stick around for sequels.
Like I said it's a good foundation.
2 Comments
I thought I was crazy and missing something when they introduced what's his face as the big baddie near the end, glad I'm not
Rocko
8 months ago
That's sadly in almost every entry in the series. Though later games pulled it of better or not as bad, depending on how you see it. I can say for sure that Andre Richardson was not necessary at all in Yakuza 3.