It has been almost 4 years since I last played the original Yakuza game, released on the PlayStation 2.
It started a whole series, giving way to not only sequels, but spin-offs, a movie, a TV drama series based on one of the spin-offs, and merch (especially perfumes).
Back in 2020, I had a big Yakuza mood, and I played through 1, 2, 3, Kenzan!, 4 & 5 all in that year.
I haven't played any other Yakuza games since, not just because of the lack of consoles to play them on, but also because after 5, I got a bit burnt-out, and 5 was the biggest Yakuza game yet.
It's been a few years, and I decided to revisit the 1st game in the series, not only to see what I would think of it now, but also because it's gonna be important for my current college thesis.
Yakuza 1, in many aspects, still holds up!
The story is really engaging, and throws you into a big mystery regarding the Tojo Clan, the 10 billion yen surronding it, and the little girl known as Haruka.
It has many twists and turns throughout; some characters even double-crossing, or fuck it, even triple-crossing, playing games with each other.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, but I do believe it is well-written, even with all these twists, each can be something easy to fuck up, but thankfully, it all makes sense by the end, and the character's motivations also make sense.
With that in mind, I feel like I do need to discuss the game's voice acting.
It's no secret to everyone who has heard about this series, that the 1st game was, for the longest time, the only one to ever get an English Dub.
The biggest thing about it, is that they actually got some pretty well-known and talented voice actors in it, ranging from Bill Farmer, Debi Derryberry, Robin Atkin Downes and, of course, Mark Hamill, playing Goro Majima.
The problem is, even if these actors try their best with what they're given, the overall direction feels stitled, and some lines even have slight cuts in the middle of dialogue, or some emotions are not conveyed properly... or fuck, some of them are trying too hard, it seems.
One of the worst examples has got to be Darryl Kurylo as the main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.
Now Kazuma Kiryu is, perhaps, one of the most bad-ass characters in gaming and a total gentlemen, and his original Japanese voice conveys that so well, being voiced by Takaya Kuroda.
But it really seems like, with the direction he was given, Kurylo had a hard time emoting the right amount for many scenes or, and this is most likely a consequence of having to try to lip-sync dialogue properly, he speaks too quickly.
The voice in general is good, and he has some pretty bad-ass lines, but it's clear that the voice direction overall makes the voice acting suffer.
And that's not even to talk about the sometimes excessing swearing the English Dub has, but that didn't really affect me as much. Actually, many times it was understandable, considering the Japanese language barely has swears of the typical type, so with people like the yakuza or punks swearing, it makes sense.
Okay, time to go to the actual gameplay, and... it's fun!
While you're not exploring the red-light district of Kamurocho, you're engaging in battles that function pretty much like a 3D beat'em up, using a combination of punches, kicks, grabs and throws to put your opponents in their place.
It can feel a bit clunky sometimes locking on to the target you want, but after learning some of Komaki's techniques later in the game, you gain more options for crowd control, which is nice.
Outside of that, you can participate in various activities in Kamurocho, such as playing arcade games, gambling in the casino, go to hostess clubs and try to hold a conversation, or simply eat food at a convenience store or a restaurant.
There's plenty of side-missions for you to do too. I didn't engage in all of them, I think I only ended up doing 16, but they were alright, and get you more engaged with the world around you, even if some of them are not very interesting.
The overall presentation of the game is nice. Graphics are nice and detailed, even if some NPCs take a hit in graphical fidelity, and the music is pretty good too, with the main battle theme, Funk Goes On, being one of my favourites.
Overall, while Yakuza 1 does have its share of flaws, I believe it's a good first game in a long-running series, and it holds up pretty well in my eyes.
It started a whole series, giving way to not only sequels, but spin-offs, a movie, a TV drama series based on one of the spin-offs, and merch (especially perfumes).
Back in 2020, I had a big Yakuza mood, and I played through 1, 2, 3, Kenzan!, 4 & 5 all in that year.
I haven't played any other Yakuza games since, not just because of the lack of consoles to play them on, but also because after 5, I got a bit burnt-out, and 5 was the biggest Yakuza game yet.
It's been a few years, and I decided to revisit the 1st game in the series, not only to see what I would think of it now, but also because it's gonna be important for my current college thesis.
Yakuza 1, in many aspects, still holds up!
The story is really engaging, and throws you into a big mystery regarding the Tojo Clan, the 10 billion yen surronding it, and the little girl known as Haruka.
It has many twists and turns throughout; some characters even double-crossing, or fuck it, even triple-crossing, playing games with each other.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, but I do believe it is well-written, even with all these twists, each can be something easy to fuck up, but thankfully, it all makes sense by the end, and the character's motivations also make sense.
With that in mind, I feel like I do need to discuss the game's voice acting.
It's no secret to everyone who has heard about this series, that the 1st game was, for the longest time, the only one to ever get an English Dub.
The biggest thing about it, is that they actually got some pretty well-known and talented voice actors in it, ranging from Bill Farmer, Debi Derryberry, Robin Atkin Downes and, of course, Mark Hamill, playing Goro Majima.
The problem is, even if these actors try their best with what they're given, the overall direction feels stitled, and some lines even have slight cuts in the middle of dialogue, or some emotions are not conveyed properly... or fuck, some of them are trying too hard, it seems.
One of the worst examples has got to be Darryl Kurylo as the main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.
Now Kazuma Kiryu is, perhaps, one of the most bad-ass characters in gaming and a total gentlemen, and his original Japanese voice conveys that so well, being voiced by Takaya Kuroda.
But it really seems like, with the direction he was given, Kurylo had a hard time emoting the right amount for many scenes or, and this is most likely a consequence of having to try to lip-sync dialogue properly, he speaks too quickly.
The voice in general is good, and he has some pretty bad-ass lines, but it's clear that the voice direction overall makes the voice acting suffer.
And that's not even to talk about the sometimes excessing swearing the English Dub has, but that didn't really affect me as much. Actually, many times it was understandable, considering the Japanese language barely has swears of the typical type, so with people like the yakuza or punks swearing, it makes sense.
Okay, time to go to the actual gameplay, and... it's fun!
While you're not exploring the red-light district of Kamurocho, you're engaging in battles that function pretty much like a 3D beat'em up, using a combination of punches, kicks, grabs and throws to put your opponents in their place.
It can feel a bit clunky sometimes locking on to the target you want, but after learning some of Komaki's techniques later in the game, you gain more options for crowd control, which is nice.
Outside of that, you can participate in various activities in Kamurocho, such as playing arcade games, gambling in the casino, go to hostess clubs and try to hold a conversation, or simply eat food at a convenience store or a restaurant.
There's plenty of side-missions for you to do too. I didn't engage in all of them, I think I only ended up doing 16, but they were alright, and get you more engaged with the world around you, even if some of them are not very interesting.
The overall presentation of the game is nice. Graphics are nice and detailed, even if some NPCs take a hit in graphical fidelity, and the music is pretty good too, with the main battle theme, Funk Goes On, being one of my favourites.
Overall, while Yakuza 1 does have its share of flaws, I believe it's a good first game in a long-running series, and it holds up pretty well in my eyes.