Yakuza, the notoriously feared crime syndicate of the east, are just one of the cultural touchstones that litter Yakuza 2’s meticulously crafted Osaka streets. Much like Yakuza’s spiritual predecessor, Shenmue, this microcosmic portion of Japan is steeped in eastern culture.
Yakuza 2 thrives on its atmosphere, its attention to detail and its unmistakable sense of place. While the game is strung along in a series of conversations and fights, it merges into the chatty, neon backdrop of a bustling Osaka night.
The streets are lined with convenience stores that sell food, arcades with UFO catchers, gambling plazas and hostess bars where girls will join you for a drink and a chat. Yakuza’s world is brimming with charm, always ready to pull you away from the storyline for a quick game of Virtua Fighter 6 or to listen in on a conversation for a tip.
Yakuza is best described as a narrative driven brawler, free-roaming in nature, but the main plot is a tightly focussed sequence of events, conversations and fights. The game boasts a deep and addictive fighting engine; kicks and punches, dodges and evasions, gabs and throws; Yakuza disguises a complex arsenal of moves and techniques in a friendly interface. The coolest and bloodiest moves are not locked away to the most hardcore players and accessed by intricate button combos, but by simply combing the enemy’s face with a sharp table edge.
As shallow as it may sound, one of Yakuza’s strongest draws is its visceral and bloody combat. The environment is your best weapon; everything not bolted down, from a bicycle to a novelty sized cone, becomes a temporary club to beat down with. Everything else is ripe for smashing heads and crushing limbs on. Incredible motion capture work and flinch-worthy audio do wonders for the brutality of Yakuza 2.
For some, Yakuza 2 shines in its story; a twisted narrative that weaves traditional Japanese concepts of honour and respect. Not only does it give credence to the game’s violence, but it’s lavishly treated to the same level of detail and attention, in facial animation and quality of dialogue, that the world is painted with. However, unlike the first Yakuza, the game’s spoken dialogue is entirely in Japanese, with English subtitles. This leads to a more authentic feel and far less “F-Bombs” than the first, but is a turn off for some. Then again, the similarities to Shenmue reappear.
A staunch understanding of the first game is not required, especially with the year’s gap between events and optional flashbacks when needed. Those who played the first will no doubt have the best experience, but with Yakuza 2 feeling so familiar to its predecessor, the games can be almost interchangeable to newcomers.
Yakuza has some insignificant, but troublesome problems that will crop up and frustrate from time to time; a fixed camera, a static mini-map – problem spawning ideas straight from the Dreamcast era. Yakuza 2 feels a little old and dusty; the Playstation 3 revamp can’t come soon enough.
Yakuza 2 suffers from being a little too similar to the first game. Reused assets, marginally improved combat and – don’t tell the Japanese, but – Osaka isn’t so different from Tokyo. More Yakuza is far from a bad thing, with a meaningful story immersed in eastern culture and tradition, dense and atmospheric locations to get lost in and visceral neon-sign lit brawls, but we’ll have to wait for the PS3 Yakuza for the next substantial step in the series.
