What makes the Yakuza / Like a Dragon / Judgment games so great
Just in case you aren't in the know, the Yakuza series is being rebranded to Like a Dragon (LAD), which is a translation of the series' original Japanese name. These games, plus the Judgment games, are the ones I talk about in this post. Yakuza and LAD may be used interchangeably throughout the post, and for the sake of clarity, the game known as Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be referred to as Yakuza 7.
As of writing, we are a few days away from Like a Dragon: Ishin's release, and I can't wait to play it. Fans of the series have been asking for a western release of it for a while now, so it's great that it's finally about to happen. It doesn't look like a remake in the same vein as the first two Kiwamis as the assets seem to be mostly re-used (if not improved) from the original, but instead seems to be their testbed for a LAD game in Unreal. This fact doesn't bother me, just wanted to point it out. In any case, before its release I want to make this post about what about these games makes me like them so much. Think of this as a general review of the series.
Starting off, my history with the series began when 0 first came to Xbox in early 2020. I played through it and fell in love. I played through them chronologically as they came to Xbox, finally catching up around mid-2021, just in time for Lost Judgment's release (I played through the Judgments in early-to-mid-2022). In other words, I've been a fan of the series for just about 3 years now.
The stories told in the games are great, they are intriguing and always leave you wanting to know what happens next. You have an overarching plot, which gets sidetracked at times while the focuses on another plotline for a while. They also take many twists and turns, which can be overwhelming at times, but it makes the story hard to predict, so you never know what will happen next. The characters in these games are also great, they each have their own agenda and faction they're loyal to. The characters always feel fleshed out, and you grow to like most of them in one way or the other, even if they aren't on your side. The cutscenes tell the story very well, and though I don't understand Japanese, the characters feel well acted. Overall, there isn't much to complain about here.
Whenever you aren't actively progressing the story, there are a ton of other things you can do instead. Various cities exist within the games. Each map can only be traversed by foot, and you can fast travel to various places with taxis. Due to only being able to travel on foot, the maps aren't very large, but that isn't a negative. Many open-world games have large maps, but there is often long stretches of land where there is nothing to do and therefore only exist to increase the map size. In LAD on the other hand, there are tons of things to do on these relatively small maps. There are restaurants, shops, and activities no matter where you are. The series is famous for its abundance of minigames, a stunningly varied selection. Some minigames are always around, while some are exclusive to a single entry. The minigames all feel like they have depth to them, which rings even more true for the ones that have their own storyline attached to them.
An example of a minigame with a storyline is Pocket Circuit Racing, found in Yakuza 0. The point of this minigame is to build your own racecar and win races. The car is built with parts you can find all over the place, from shops to substories, and you must build it within the restrictions set for a given race. There are a handful of different part types, each affecting your cars stats differently, and for ecery part type there are a ton of options. Once your car is built and you start a race, you hold the acceleration button and hope for the best. Don't go too fast though, as doing so in a corner might throw you off the track, in which case you must try to save yourself through a quicktime event. If you manage to win the race, you progress through the minigame's storyline, unlocking a new race.
To show the sheer variety of minigames on display in the series, here's an incomplete list: Bowling, mahjong, shogi, baseball, golf, darts, pool, "rock-paper-scissors", fishing, multiple both real and original arcade games, karaoke, chicken racing, snowball throwing, kart racing, hunting, RTS, on-rail shooter, noodle making, skateboarding, taxi driving, racing in cars, racing on motorcycles, Mario Party-ish, cabaret clubs, business management. Some of these are as fleshed out – if not more – as Pocket Circuit Racing. Wow!, I say.
Outside of minigames, you can also partake in substories. These are basically side-quests, they vary in length and can be about anything. A misunderstanding, a story heavy questline, selecting options, playing a minigame, a fight. These are where much of the sillier side of the series appear, as while the main story is told seriously (even during downtime and lighter moments), the substories sometimes imply or outright confirm the existence of supernatural and/or mythical subjects in the series' world. This separates the side content from the main story in a way that works very well.
To compare this with a similar situation, many people claim that Saints Row 2 is the best of that series, and I feel that game rides the same line as the LAD games: Main story is serious and told that way (even during sillier scenarios), but side content is always silly and extreme. Many feel that Saints Row 3 onwards are worse than 2, and this could be because the story is as silly as the side content, flattening the difference between the story and side content, thereby flattening the overall experience at the same time. In other words, the contrast between the serious story and silly side content is what makes it work, and is something the LAD games haven't strayed away from.
Something I haven't brought up yet is the gameplay. In every game, the thing you'll do the most is run around in a city. In these scenarios, you can walk and sometimes run, and that's about it. Whether you want to engage with or avoid them, you are constantly on the lookout for enemies roaming the streets. Should you get close enough, the combat will begin, which changes the gameplay to that of a third person brawler (in every game but Yakuza 7 so far). You now have the ability to fight and dodge, and the moves you have access to are a sizeable amount. Counters, reversals, finishers, combos, you name it. You also have access to weapons, like guns and swords, and you can heal yourself with food. Brawling doesn't feel as refined as the gameplay of dedicated fighting games like Street Fighter, but it still feels and sounds good. Some enemies throughout the series have an unfair ability to dodge or ignore your attacks, and some are downright cheaters, but most of the time it feels very good. Although you play as the same character in basically every game, there have been numerous playable characters in the series, all with unique movesets. In short, brawling's good.
For Yakuza 7, the combat has turned turn-based, you have a party, and each party member have skills, classes, and items they are able to use. Skills and attacks heavily rely on your positioning, but your positioning is random as the characters move on their own; you cannot influence their positioning so at times they run into enemies, causing their own attacks to be interrupted. I'm not much of a turn-based combat guy, but even I know some of this is bad for the gameplay. This change of gameplay is a bit disappointing for me as I prefer the brawling, though the story, side-content, and just running around in the city feels as good as ever, so I'm still on board for LAD 8; I just hope the combat is improved. It's not like I can complain much about the combat being changed either, as both Ishin, the upcoming Gaiden, as well as the Judgment games all retain the brawling the series is known for.
Oh, and the music. The music in these games, man, it rocks. The standouts are the karaoke tracks: original tracks sung by the player characters. They are good and tie into their game's theme. All combat music is great as well, and the various tracks used for menus and minigames too. They are mostly electronic and rock tracks from what I recall, but there's a huge variety throughout and they all sound great. I'm not sure what else to say, go give their OSTs a listen.
That's my thoughts on the LAD series. A great mostly-brawler series with tons of things to do. If you have yet to play any of these games, my recommendation is to start with Yakuza 0. It's a prologue to the original so it's the first chronologically, the gameplay is great, there's tons to do. As the beginning tends to be story and tutorial heavy, give it at least the first 4 or 5 chapters before deciding whether it's for you or not. I know it didn't immediately click for me, so just give it some time.
Final note, I just want to mention that I probably won't write a review for Ishin, even if I like the series. Most of the points mentioned here will likely apply to that all the same, so unless it feels drastically different I don't feel the need at the moment. Perhaps a Dead Souls review if I ever get around to that.
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