It takes elements from old sidescroller beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage, 3D arcade fighting/brawler games like Virtua Fighter, and even a little bit of Shenmue. I would best describe the fighting gameplay in Yakuza as a 3D action brawler. Upon engaging with one, kickass music will start to play as the game transitions into Battle Mode. But of course, since Kamurocho is a shady red-light district run by the yakuza, there’s bound to be some punks on the street looking for a fight, or your wallet. You can freely run around Kamurocho and explore it’s nooks and crannies, enter numerous shops and buy various things, talk to random people on the street and sometimes get dragged along for a substory, and play an abundance of minigames like play baseball at the batting cages, bet your money at pachinko parlors or gambling dens, go fishing, sing some karaoke, etc. People on the streets are dressed as Santa, Christmas trees are up in various buildings, and it snows from time to time. For example, Yakuza 1 came out in December of 2005, so it’s winter in the game. Each game also typically takes place during the year and time-frame it was released in Japan. There are many different locations across Japan that are explorable throughout the series, but Kamurocho is usually where a lot of the pivotal action takes place. In the first three games he was the only playable character, but in 4, 5, and 0, other characters become playable alongside him as well.Īll of the games take place in a fictional Tokyo red-light district called Kamurocho, which is heavily based on the real red-light district of Kabukicho. Regardless, he always tries to put his best foot forward and help better the lives of those he encounters. Kiryu’s an ex-Yakuza who constantly attempts to escape his dark past, but despite his best efforts always seems to wind up at the heart of some underground struggle. The star of the show is a man named Kazuma Kiryu, pictured above. So what exactly are the Yakuza games about? I’d describe them as an action-packed, over-the-top crime drama series. If you need some more info on what these games are, keep reading.
#Yakuza kenzan english translation menu series
If you already want to get into the series but don’t know where to start, I typed up a quick start guide that aims to give you all the info you need to get you playing the games. If you aren’t into heavy reading, HyperBitHero made a video overview of the entire series, though it’s almost an hour long and has some minor spoilers. This guide will cover what the games are like, why I think they’re worth your time, and help make heads and tales of all of the games and spinoffs. The Yakuza series is criminally underrated outside of Japan, which is a real shame because these games are nothing short of absolutely fantastic. You may have heard of them before, you may have not. Yakuza, or Ryu ga Gotoku (龍が如く, literally means “Like A Dragon”) as it’s known in Japan, is a series of JRPG/3D Brawler video games based on the criminal underworld of Japan.