Yakuza 2 (PS2) – First Impressions
Hearing good things about Yakuza 2 on last Friday’s edition of the 1UP Show, I woke up Saturday and called around my local retailers to find a copy of this late bloomer for the PlayStation 2, which was just released August 10th. Sold out more places than I was expecting, I finally tracked a copy down and drilled in over the weekend. With 25 hours invested into the game, I’m nearing the end of the story and am enjoying what I’ve seen and played so far.
The first Yakuza—also a PS2 release—eluded my radar when it was released back in 2006, so I had some second thoughts about jumping into the series midway, but Yakuza 2 does a favor for chumps such as myself and provides a thorough cut-scene recap of the events of the first game right off the bat. While optional, the recap is a must for people new to the series, but should also well serve those returning to the series after a two-year hiatus.
After warming back up to standard definition visuals (the pain went away quickly) the first thing that struck me about Yakuza 2 is the similarity in cut-scene length and frequency with Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series. Having so far dug 13 chapters through the 16 chapter story, I can say confidently that this pace continues throughout the game, so beware if MGS’ expository orgasms have turned you off in the past. To be fair, Yakuza 2 does not have any cut-scenes approaching an hour (not that I’ve encountered anyhow), but they do regularly exceed 15 minutes. Also worth noting, the cinematography and foley are about as good as I’ve seen on the PS2, right up there with MGS3 and FFXII, but the motion capture is occasionally kind of janky in a few spots.
That's some heavy shit
With all of that passive entertainment, Yakuza 2 thankfully has an engaging, if somewhat ridiculous, yarn to spin. I won’t go into detail, but to summarize, the story is that of a lovable-yet-skull-crushing former Yakuza who is called back into the fold to protect his clan from rivals looking to wipe out the competition just for competition’s sake. While this type of story could be done wrong in so many ways, SEGA development house Amusement Vision enlisted noted Japanese crime novelist Hase Seishu (who also penned the first Yakuza game) to wrap a sizable cast of interesting characters and several twisty plot points around the venerable mafia story. The events do take a dip off of the deep end of realism later in the game, but if you are not a current or former Yakuza member looking for a accurate portrayal of your lifestyle, a little suspension of disbelief will go far towards your enjoyment of the game, and for what it is worth, hammy drama is avoided where it counts.
To the dismay of some series fans, Yakuza 2 retains its original Japanese voice-work with English subtitles in liu of the Hollywood treatment the first game’s U.S. release received. I think that keeping the Japanese voice-work was a great decision made by the developers that makes a game that is quintessentially Japanese feel all the more authentic, so don’t avoid the game solely because of this. My guess is the choice was entirely budgetary, but that’s cool with me. Even after reading about the blockbuster English cast from the first Yakuza, I still can’t help but wish that that game was also in its original Japanese, and I’ve sadly convinced myself beyond argument that playing it now is not a possibility. I can only hope the upcoming Yakuza 3 for the PS3 has Japanese language as an audio option . . . is anyone at SEGA listening? No?!
With eyes like that, she can speak whatever language she wants
The fighting mechanics are enjoyable and surprisingly deep. The last real beat ‘em up I played was Double Dragon, so better opinions might be found elsewhere, but I have yet to get sick of the combat, and unlike some other people, I actually think the game could use more random battles. The first half of the game has a good density of thugs in the streets, but later on, it does thin out for quite a while. The “dungeons,” also well paced, make up a good deal for this, but as a clinically sadistic RPG grinder, I am a little bummed I can’t fight more often on a whim.
The mini-games aren’t doing much for me. There is a load of them . . . everything from bowling, golf driving ranges and baseball batting cages, to casinos, Mahjong parlors and Shogi clubs. The bowling, golf, and baseball are mildly enjoyable, but are simplified and not worth playing for long unless you’re looking to unlock fighting techniques. My issues with the other mini-games is the opposite; the representations of each is painfully accurate, down to their intense rule sets. If you don’t already have a grasp on Mahjong (it is NOT your mom’s Windows version) or Baccarat or Shogi, then you probably won’t be getting much entertainment out of these unless you are well disciplined and/or insane. I may just be a baby, let me know what you think.
This goes on for about 15 more pages, no joke
The side quests on the other hand are great and I frankly can’t get enough of them. As with the story, there’s not much point in me going into much detail, so I’ll just say that if you enjoy the usual RPGs trappings, SEGA has you covered. Two examples worth mentioning: several hours into the game, a host club job and management of a hostess club opened up, and I then spent the next 10 hours straight avoiding the story arc and completing those two pieces. You’ll probably hate it, but I LOVED it.
I figure I have another 2-3 hours of the main game to go and am hoping for a few more distractions on the side to satiate my gangster thirst. Once I wrap the game up, I’ll make sure to post my final thoughts, but if you still aren’t sure whether to pick up this game, I and others implore you to do so.
