The Yakuza series turns 15 this year. During this time, she managed to go through a lot: in addition to the main line, which includes seven games, a spin-off about the zombies of Dead Souls, a Kurohyo dilogy for PSP, two parts about the samurai Kenzan and Ishin, as well as an offshoot about the adventures of a lawyer in familiar places … Plus, don’t forget about a number of remasters, remakes and an online game based on the franchise.
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Over the years, the world of Yakuza has acquired a complex internal organization, and it is not an easy task for a beginner to break into it. Positioning creates additional difficulties: someone thinks that this is such a Japanese GTA, someone is sure that Yakuza is a simple two-button karaoke action movie. The new, eighth game in the main series is intended to be an easy entry point for those who were afraid to start, but really wanted to.
New age, new life
Ichiban at the start of the game …
Ichiban Kasuga is a chimpira, a newcomer to the yakuza who served his family for only a few years. An orphan who never knew relatives, he grew up in copeland – a brothel hiding under the guise of a bath. As a teenager, he entered the Arakawa family and has since been loyal to his boss, Masumi Arakawa, who made a name for himself by killing the Tojo clan. Ichiban was so loyal that, at Arakawa’s request, on the first day of 2001, right on his birthday, he took upon himself a murder that he did not commit – and served a full sentence for it.
At large, instead of reuniting with a criminal family, betrayal awaited him: not only did Arakawa not go with Ichiban to contact, he also personally stuck a bullet in the chest of the named son. So yesterday’s prisoner unexpectedly found himself without a home, family, friends and in a completely new place – Izhincho. A homeless man helped him survive by mending the poor fellow with a fishing line. This is how Ichiban’s new life begins, whose main task is to find an answer to the question: what happened in those 18 years that he spent in prison?
Dragon Quest as a textbook of life
Kasuga’s favorite game often pops up in conversations.
Previous games in the series told the story of another hero – Kazuma Kiryu, a former yakuza who also served time in prison for a crime he did not commit. Over the course of six games, he managed to acquire many friends and enemies, change several cities and complete his story. Therefore, Ichiban appeared in the new game – a completely new hero who had not previously appeared in the series.
Along with Ichiban came another major change. Fighting in previous games has been focused on action, with Kiryu (and sometimes other heroes) single-handedly scattering enemies with a combination of strong and weak attacks. Added to this were dodges and blocking, as well as many special techniques that allowed you to deal a lot of damage in a short time. In general, the combat system of the past parts can be aptly called a brawler: it is simple and elegant in its execution, although many players often do not reveal even half of its depth.
But in Yakuza 7, the developers went the other way. Since Ichiban, unlike Kiryu, relies heavily on his friends, he walks around the city with his partners, and fights in the manner of characters in Japanese role-playing games. This, by the way, is even explained by the plot: as a child, Ichi spent a lot of time behind Dragon Quest, from where he took over both his moral code of the hero and certain ideas about the world. This is reflected in the opponents as well: in battle they appear to Kasuga more formidable than they really look. Often, a simple passer-by can transform into something amazing: from a garbage bag with legs to a pirate armed with a trident.
The variety of opponents is amazing: here, for example, live garbage bags
Many fans of the series were skeptical about the changes, but the system works like a clock: to the turn-based combat familiar from JRPG, the developers have added purely “Yakuza” features like the need to quickly respond to attacks to reduce damage or small QTEs for special attacks. As a result, the battles remain very dynamic, even despite the turn-based approach. Another interesting trick is that the player must carefully monitor how the allies and opponents are located: positioning can both help and ruin the situation so radically that you are amazed. A massive attack that spends a lot of mental points can easily go “into milk”, and an attempt to reach a distant enemy can be interrupted by an attack, if possible, from those who stood in the way. Thanks also to the fact that area attacks do not cripple friends.
Levelup as a lifestyle
Ichiban makes an important decision
Along with the “role-playing” combat system, pumping came. It is worth noting that it was always possible to improve your hero in the series: usually Kiryu had to clean up enough enemy faces to get a few points, for which he opened new types of attacks or strengthened his health. In Yakuza 0, the backstory of the entire franchise, money was spent on pumping. Here, experience is given for battles and increases the level of heroes, due to which new techniques are opened, health indicators, attacks and a dozen other parameters increase.
As it should be in an RPG, heroes also need to be “dressed”: a set of armor consists of three components (helmet, armor and shoes) and is assembled from familiar everyday things. At the beginning of the game, with a high probability, the heroes will walk in conventional T-shirts, sneakers and straw hats, while closer to the end they will begin to carry body armor and helmets. Weapons to match: for example, Kasuga wields bats (which for some reason he considers the heroes’ real weapons), and one of the girls in the party is “armed” with a handbag. You have to choose only different materials and colors.
In the picture, you can see several offered professions. There are 19 of them in the game.
Professions moved from Dragon Quest to the new Yakuza. Instead of the usual magicians, warriors and monks here, however, there are much more applied things. Kasuga and his friends can become guards, builders, diviners, and girls, for example, can be retrained into idols. Each profession comes with its own unique moveset, a set of weapons and features, and is pumped separately from the level. With the profession, the appearance of the hero also changes – however, only in battle. At least until the story is complete.
Apart from this, Kasuga has a set of social parameters like charisma, intelligence, kindness and passion. Their increase opens access to new tasks, secret locations and much more – up to the possibility of starting a relationship with some girls living in Izhincho. Unlike the level, social parameters grow due to all kinds of activity: from talking on the street with random passers-by to passing tests in disciplines like knowledge of games or the underworld.
And, of course, social skills develop great due to side activities.
Big city life
Meet: this is Clara, a very smart chimpanzee …
Yakuza wouldn’t be herself if it didn’t offer the player hundreds of ways to have fun. In addition to the main plot, the user will be offered more than 70 side quests ranging from “find the missing kittens” to “help the masochist feel pain again.” Each quest is a small finished story, which gives not only experience (because in most cases you have to fight with someone), but also useful items or future allies. It’s not about the party members – they appear according to the plot. But the heroes of side missions are useful in a different way.
First, some of them can be summoned using a special application on the phone, and they will help in battle. For example, the rescued cancer Nancy arrives with her crustacean friends, poisoning enemies, and Kiyoe Shirakawa feeds the entire group of Ichibana with soup that restores mental points – the local analogue of mana.
And this is Nancy – Ichiban saved her while walking around the city, exchanging with a hungry homeless man for a set of sushi. Now she helps in battle
Others may work as managers in the business Ichiban runs. At a certain point in the plot, yesterday’s prisoner becomes the president of the company and is forced to prove that he is capable of being an effective manager. To do this, players need to properly buy real estate, pour the funds earned by the company into it and manage people working on the ground. And this is another side plot, which is completely optional – but it is simply impossible not to be distracted by it. By the way, thanks to the pumping of the business, you can get the only non-plot party member.
Part-time hero
Karaoke still remains an indispensable entertainment with insane visuals
Side quests aside, there is still plenty to do. You can, for example, play golf or baseball: each of the mini-games has its own set of rules and several levels of difficulty. You can go to the movies with friends or play darts at the bar – this strengthens the relationship and also dilutes the gameplay with a new type of activity.
There is an analogue of a casino, legal and not so: in the first one there are pachinko machines, in the second one you can try your luck at poker, blackjack, hanafuda and a number of other games. For lovers of Asian exoticism, there are high quality shogi and riichi mahjong in games. If the rules are suddenly unfamiliar to you, there is a built-in learning basics. Do not forget about the arcades: you can always play a couple of matches in Virtua Fighter (this time the second and fifth parts) or try to catch a stuffed toy in UFO Catcher.
Everyone’s favorite karaoke is also in place, including the lyrical Baka Mitai, which has become a meme. In a karaoke bar, by the way, you can strengthen relations with party members: if joint actions have had a sufficient impact, then you can have a drink with the characters and have a heart-to-heart talk, advancing in everyone’s personal quest.
Fans of racing can try themselves in karting: in the best traditions of Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing, here you need to maneuver on the tracks, using bonuses and accelerations. Except that instead of kup shells or nitro boxes, bazookas and machine guns are scattered around the map.
This is what the joy of passing the next test looks like.
Passing exams for knowledge of various disciplines – from sports and biology to SEGA games and knowledge of the Yakuza series. Gardening. “Heroism” on freelance. Search for treasures hidden in the city. Underground arenas. Secret shops hidden from view. It seems that Yakuza: Like a Dragon does not and can not have an end to new content, and a dozen more can be added to the above activities.
Not a minute of rest
Almost at the very beginning, the player learns that the city is governed by three organizations: the Japanese yakuza, the Korean mafia and the Chinese triad. During the game, you will have to get to know everyone better
… And these are all just mechanical descriptions of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, while not a single line has been said about the plot, except for the synopsis. But the plot is almost the most important part of the game in the case of a series. Yakuza has always had dashing stories with colorful and interesting characters. And in this regard, Like a Dragon is not inferior to the previous parts.
At first, Ichiban, settling in a new place, is engaged in some not very important matters: he will help the homeless, then he will establish light in the bar, or he will stand up for the girls of the oldest profession (who, in general, are not alien to him). And already here the topic of “gray areas”, which play an important role in Japan, begins to rise. The fact is that Japanese legislation is very strict, but it has a number of interesting nuances that many use. And most often this is not done from a good life, which is well shown in the game. Ichiban stands up not just for outcasts – he stands up for those who are unlucky enough to fall out of the “light” of ordinary life and find themselves unnecessary in society: homeless people, migrants, “moths” and other marginalized people. After all, representatives of the law, instead of helping them to get back on their feet, are doing everything to drive such people even further into darkness.
There will be a lot of politics in the plot
The theme runs through the entire campaign lasting over 50 hours. Of course, in addition to the social connotation, there are enough other topics in it, and the plot itself is traditionally twisted in such a way that ideas about good and evil will change every few hours, and the conflict from local history will gradually swell to the size of the whole of Japan.
This is perhaps one of the main charms of the game: the story starts slowly, but picks up such a pace that it is simply impossible to break away from the finale. At the same time, unlike most Japanese RPGs, Yakuza: Like a Dragon requires almost no grinding: if you do not ignore the available activities, then in most cases even the most difficult bosses will be passable.
Like a dragon
This is how Kiryu appears in the main episode.
Another interesting detail should be noted: the new Yakuza is in many ways an auto remake, made so skillfully that it is not always possible to understand it. Ichiban wears Kiryu’s “inverted” costume. Although his character is similar in its moral basis to the nature of the previous hero, it has completely different facets: Kiryu was a quiet decisive loner, and Ichiban is radiant with optimism and relies on friends. Which, by the way, are in many ways similar to those of Kazama: one of the first acquaintances, as in the original Yakuza, will be a police officer of pre-retirement age. They even have similar tattoos: Kiryu boasts a huge dragon full-back, and Ichiban has a dragon carp (since he has not yet matured to a real dragon). And both stories start with betrayal after being released from prison. There are very, very many parallels, but to talk about them further is to reveal important plot details. And given how unpredictable the plot is, keeping in line with a seemingly familiar story, that would be a real crime.
“Veterans” of the series will see a lot of familiar faces – from the obvious captains of the Omi alliance to much more unexpected guests, whose appearance was never expected. Many of them play only episodic roles, which, however, is not at all scary – this is a new story, and new heroes are writing it.
This, by the way, also helps newcomers: it is completely unnecessary when meeting to know what the Tojo clan or the Omi alliance are famous for, what difficult relations they had for more than forty years, or why everyone still remembers the Dragon of Dojima with trepidation. Kasuga doesn’t know anything about them either, but that doesn’t stop him from fighting for the truth anyway. And, of course, to win.
P. S. Тем, кто возьмется, два бесплатных совета: ключи для золотых сейфов можно купить у некоторых торговцев, а профессии дают не самые очевидные бонусы — не стесняйтесь экспериментировать.
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